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PC  PUNCH!  12  Potent  Upgrade  Strategies 


February  1990 


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THE    CHOICE    OF    HOME    PC    ENTHUSIASTS    SINCE    197  9 


BUILD  AN  AT^ 
F0R%I,0P0! 

14  Photos  and  Our 
Do's  and  Donp 
w  You  Ho' 


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--   J     rJ- 


SA 


P. 


INTER 


l.l'Vi:lrj;'r)?r 


>  What  You  Need 
V  What  It  Costs 

►  Where  to  Get  It 


pl-US! 


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USA  S2.95  Canada  $3.50 

02 


"I"        „ 
'71486"Q2193' 


>  BLASTEROIDS:  C-6-S/128,  Amiga, 
Atari  ST.  Coining  Soon:  IBM 

■  VINDICAT()1«:  Amiga,  Atari  ST 
Coming  Soon:  C-64/128, 
IBM,  Apple  11 GS 


•XYBOTS:  C-64/128,  Amiga, 

Atari  ST.  Coming  Soon;  IBM 
•  ROLLING  THUNDF.R:  C-64/128 

•APB:  IBM,  C-64/128, 
Amiga,  Atari  ST 


IF  ACTION  SPEAKS 
LOUDER  THAN  WORDS, 
YOU'D  BE 
BY  NOW. 


^ 


At  Tengen, 

we  take  only  the 

best  hits  from  the 

arcades  and  make  them 

a\'ailable  for  play  on  your 

computer.  We  let  the  incredible 

action  in  our  games  do  all  the 

talking.  Besides,  with  the  roar  of 

excitement  in  your  ears,  you 

probably  can't  hear  our  words  anyway. 


jj 


ARCADE  HITS  THAT  HIT  HOME 

1623  Bucl<eye  Dr.,  Milpitas,  CA  95035  (408)  473-9400 


Blasteroids,  Vindicators,  APB.  Xvbots: 

Trademarks  of  Atari  Games:  ©1989  Tengen.  Inc. 

Rolling  THUNDEn:  Trademark  and  ©1389  Namco.  Ltd. 

Circle  Readar  Ssrvice  Number  169 


TopSeaeL  TopSpeed 

Only  a  lunatic  would  agree  to  single-handedly  destroy  a  major  terrorist  Get  your  hands  on  some  of  the  most  powerful  motorcycles  ever  made. 

operation  in  Central  America.  With  submarines,  choppers  and  tanks,  your  From  0  to  60  in  four  seconds,  you're  in  for  the  fastest-and  deadliest-ride 

enemy  outnumbers  you  in  the  .sea,  air  and  ground.  Jusi  the  odds  you  lovel  of  your  life.  Watch  out  for  that  curve  up  ahead! 


mm 
Rocms 


m   Dodge  exploding  bomb  shells  as  you  sabotage  Base 
Camp  One. 

■  Upgrade  your  weapons  by  stealing  those  of 
the  enemy! 

■  Enjoy  detailed  graphics  and  true-to-life  sound  effects. 

HOW  TO  ORDER: 

Visit  your  local  retailer  today  or  phone  with  VISA/MC  (USA  Si.  Canada), 
<40K)  727-1665.  Monday-Friday.  Kam-5pm  Pacific  Time.  Both  products 
available  on  IBM  (S.14.9.')  ea.)  and  Commodore  64  (SIO.Q.'i  ea.).  Pocket  Rockets 
also  available  on  Commodore  Amiga  (S39.95).  IBM  version  includes  both  ."i  1/4" 
and  3  1/2"  disks. 

IBM.  CommodorL'  64.  jnd  Aniiira  are  regjs[ercj  iradcmarkr,  of  Intcmaliuna]  Busiiros  Miictiincs  Citrji.. 
Commodore  Ek'clrotiio  Ltd.,  and  CtimmiHloii;- Aiiiijij  [nc.  rc^poflivcly.  Capt'oin  loco  is  a  regislortid 
Irademart «('  Captom  I.I.S.A..  inc. 


Test  drive  the  Suzuki  Katana,  Kawasaki  Ninja,  Honda 
Hurricane  and  Yamaha  FZR! 

Authentic  instrument  panels  and  road  scenes  bring  your 
ride  alive! 

Negotiate  heart-slopping  turns,  or  speed  down  the 
explosive  straight-line  quarter  mile. 


CAPCOM 

USA 


Circle  Reader  Service  Number  168 


3303  Scoit  Blvd. 

Santa  Clara.  CA  95054 

(408)  727-0400 


COMPUTE! 

THE    CHOICE    OF    H  O  M  E    PC    ENTHUSIASTS    SINCE     1979 


IN  FDCIIS:  HARDWARE  UNVEILED 

BUILD  YOUR  OWN  AT  /20/  bruce  w  haase 
All  you  need  is  a  screwdriver. 

MY  VIEW  /32/  JOHN  VOELCKER 

Home  hardware  market  changes  quickly. 

COMPUTEi's  FEBRUARY  SHAREPAK  DISK  /34/ 

Speed  up  key  repeats,  ward  off  viruses,  rev  up  your  hard  disk, 
and  check  out  GIF  pictures. 

UPGRADE  FEVER  /36/  aubrey  pilgrim 

When  the  fever  hits,  heal  thyself. 

RESOURCES  /44/  EDITORS 

Get  inside  your  computer  to  learn  more. 


DEPARTMENTS 


NEWS  &  NOTES  /6/  editors 

PC  hyperware,  smart  mouse,  CD-ROM  for  the  home,  parental 

favorites,  and  more  that's  new. 

LETTERS  /to/  editors 

VGA  includes  MCQA,  V20s  add  speed,  and  CGA  seasickness. 

COMPUTE!  SPECIFIC 

MS-DOS  /14/  CLIFTON  KARNES  AND  JACK  NIMERSHEIM 

COMMODORE  64/128  /16/  neil  randall 

APPLE  11  /I6/  GREGG  KEIZER 
AMIGA  /I6/  DENNY  ATKIN 
MACINTOSH  /17/  HEIDI  E.  H.  AYCOCK 

REVIEWS  /a9/ 

NEW  PRODUCTS  /i30/  mickey  Mclean 


HOTWARE  /1 36/  software  bestsellers 


FEBRUARY  1990  •  VOLUME  12  •  NO.  2  •  ISSUE  117 


Covet  Pfioto  S  1 969  Mark  Wagoner 


COMPUTE!  The  Choice  o1  Home  PC  Enthyaiaala  Since  1 979  [USPS  S3T25D1  is  p-jOI'5r*ed  montwy  By  COMPUTE'  PuMcatiOflS 
In:  *ac  Cc^sjrrer  Magaf  ines  inc.  Cni'ton  Ccmpany  coe  of  !ne  AEC  Puai.sf.ing  Ccmpanes.  3  pari  o!  Captal  Crtifis  ABC.  Inc 
Es'orial  oirres  are^oca-M  al3Zi  '.Ves:  '.Vti^acvar  Atfenue,  Greensbcra.  NCa^dOe  Domestc  Sutjstnptions  12  issues  SI  9.9i 
POSTMASTEH;  SoniJ  Form  3579  lo:  COMPUTE!.  P  0  Bon  3245  Harlan  lA  5 1537  Second.clas5  posiage  paid  al  Ne*  York.  MY 
and  addJlional  maJing  offices  Entire  contenls  capyriqnt  S  1989  &y  COf,^PUTE'  Publications,  rnc  Alt  rights  r^s&rved  ISSN  0194- 
357X 


PROoui;riviTY 


COMPUTE!  CHOICE  /46/  peter  scisco 

Power  and  integration  add  up  to  Microsoft  Works  2.0. 

THE  RIGHT  LIGHT  /sa/  Robert  bixby 
Before  you  buy,  read  our  guide  to  laser  printers, 

PC  PRIMER  160/  HINTS  AND  TIPS  FROM  OUR  READERS 

DOS  macros  and  saving  clusters. 


COMPUTE!  CHOICE  /62/  denny  atkin 

Nab  the  bad  guys  and  save  the  world  in  Mean  Streets. 

GLORY  DAYS  /68/  mickey  mcLEAN 

Fantasy  football  keeps  the  game  going  after  the  season  ends. 


GAMESCOPE  /74/  hints  and  tips  from  our  readers 
Cubic  tips,  ancient  war  strategy,  royal  suggestions,  and  mania- 
cal hints. 


LEARNING 


COMPUTE!  CHOICE  /7e/  righard  c.  leinecker 
New  Logo  packs  in  more  learning  than  ever. 

BUILDING  BRIDGES  /82/  Howard  millman 
Technology  links  disabled  people  to  the  world. 

HOMEWORK  /88/  HINTS  and  tips  from  our  readers 
Cause  and  effect  with  a  mouse. 


COLUMHS 


EDITORIAL  LICENSE  /4/  peter  scisco 
Listening  to  the  siren  song  of  new  hardware. 

IMPACT  /so/  DAVID  D.  THORNBURG 

Shift  your  viewpoint  on  new  technology. 

GAMEPLAY  /66/  orson  scott  card 
Be  the  boss  of  your  own  games. 


DISCOVERIES  /79/  DAVID  stanton 
Teachers  make  multimedia  work. 


CONVERSATIONS  /128/  keith  ferrell 
Where  is  European  entertainment  headed? 


OFF  LINE  /135/  dan  gookin 
Look  back  from  the  future. 


EDITORIAL  LICENSE 


PETER         SCISCO 


Strange  as  it  may  sound, 
standing  in  the  middle  of 
the  Las  Vegas  Conven- 
tion Center  surrounded 
by  the  fury  of  COMDEX 
isn't  the  best  place  to  be 
thinking  of  hardware.  Not 
if  you  want  to  grasp  a  re- 
ahslic  perspective  of  com- 
puter life  at  home.  Not  if 
you  want  to  maintain 
your  equilibrium  amid  an  avalanche 
of  the  hottest  hardware  since  the  gun- 
fight  at  the  OK  Corral. 

Even  so.  that  was  my  position 
last  November,  roaming  the  aisles  of 
COMDEX  and  wondering  how  all 
this  wonderful  computer  technology 
was  going  to  affect  home-based  com- 
puting. It's  hard  enough  figuring  out 
how  a  486-based  computer  that  har- 
nesses the  power  of  digital  video  inter- 
active technology  does  what  it  does, 
without  having  to  imagine  how  such  a 
machine  can  possibly  benefit  my 
neighbor  down  the  street  who's  still 
puzzled  over  how  lo  program  a  VCR. 
Maybe  it  would  help  to  start  with 
the  basics.  And  that  means  spelling 
out  what  my  opinions  are  about  hard- 
ware. The  COMPUTE!  hallways  are 
seldom  free  of  good-natured  (though  I 
suspect  sincerely  felt)  ribbing  and 
taunting  from  a  spectrum  of  experi- 
enced personal  computer  users.  Dur- 
ing an  especially  good  day.  the  verbal 
exchanges  rise  to  the  level  of  serious 
discussion.  We  like  to  think  we  always 
ride  that  high  road,  but,  as  with  any- 
body else,  our  arguments  sometimes 
dip  lo  the  playground  level.  (My  bits 
are  badderl  Oh  yeah?  Well  my  bus  is 
bigger!  Hah!  Stick  that  in  your 
throughput!)  Still,  it's  stimulating  and 
a  heck  of  a  lot  more  interesting  than 
what  usually  passes  for  conversation 
in  late-twentieth-ccntury  .America. 
Myself,  I'm  a  minimalist.  Or 
maybe  a  better  term  would  be  skepti- 
cal minimalist.  That  is,  I  believe  that 
the  more  you  get  out  of  a  minimum 
amount  of  equipment,  the  better  off 
you  arc.  The  latest  and  greatest  tech- 
nological gadgetry  seldom  lives  up  to 
its  hype.  Besides,  most  folks  can't  af- 


ford the  latest-generation  computer 
equipment  anyway.  I  have  a  simple 
rule:  Stop  to  think  about  your  com- 
puter purchases.  If  you  think  you  can 
gel  along  without  it.  you  probably  can. 
That  rule  doesn't  make  me  the  most 
modern  computer  user  (I  can't  see 
beautiful  VG.A  color  on  my  home 
computer,  and  the  most  complex  sim- 
ulations and  applications  are  beyond 
the  power  of  my  machine),  but  it  cer- 
tainly keeps  me  happy. 

Not  everybody  is  comfortable 
making  that  sacrifice,  and  that's  fine. 
The  newest  hardware  means  hard 
choices.  Is  the  386SX  the  home  ma- 
chine for  the  1 990s,  or  can  you  get 
along  with  an  AT-class  machine  or 
less?  Myself,  I  spend  most  of  my  com- 
puting time  at  home  writing,  and  too 
much  of  it  playing  games.  I  bring 
work  home  with  me  when  deadlines 
demand  it,  and  I  track  family  fi- 
nances. My  8088-based  system  has 
served  me  well  for  several  years,  and  I 
have  no  compelling  reason,  except  for 
the  gee-whiz  factor,  to  change.  My 
wriung  wouldn't  get  any  faster.  The 
few  minutes  I  would  save  crunching 


my  small  spreadsheets  or  searching 
my  personal  databases  don't  outweigh 
the  expense  of  an  upgrade. 

The  same  goes  for  other  systems. 
Do  you  need  a  Mac  SE.  or  is  your  Plus 
getting  the  job  done?  Are  you  happy 
with  your  C64.  or  is  your  budding  in- 


terest in  home  video  strong  enough  to 
warrant  an  .Amiga?  Instead  of  upgrad- 
ing your  desktop  system,  maybe  it 
would  be  better  to  pick  up  one  of  the 
new  laptops.  Sometimes  it  isn't  a 
whole  new  hardware  solution  that  you 
need,  but  only  a  peripheral.  I  don't 
use  a  mouse  at  home,  but  I  might  buy 
one  because  I  think  it  could  help  my 
preschool -age  son  gain  better  control 
over  the  software  he  likes  to  play  with. 

The  most  important  consider- 
ation you  can  make  when  contemplat- 
ing new  hardware  is  to  take  careful 
stock  of  your  intended  use  of  that 
equipment.  Maybe  you  need  the 
speed  and  processing  power  of  a  386  if 
you're  a  freelance  designer  working 
with  a  topflight  CAD  package.  Or 
maybe  you  want  to  buy  a  PC  compati- 
ble that  will  take  your  home  business 
into  the  next  century  and  give  you  ac- 
cess to  all  of  the  anticipated  software. 
Or,  maybe  you  had  planned  on  an 
AT,  but  with  the  drop  in  386  prices 
you  think  the  386  is  a  better  deal.  Go 
ahead — buy  it  if  you  have  the  money, 
and  don't  feel  guilty. 

Maybe  you're  a  little  bored  with 
your  current  state  of  computing.  Have 
you  tried  telecommunicating?  .A  mo- 
dem is  a  lot  cheaper  than  a  whole  new 
system,  and  it  opens  up  great  new  ave- 
nues for  exploration.  Maybe  you're 
eager  to  tr>'  some  of  the  bigger  soft- 
ware programs  available,  but  you 
dread  swapping  all  those  disks  in  and 
out.  .A  hard  disk  will  cost  you  less 
than  $300  and  free  you  from  floppy 
frustration.  If  you're  a  game  player 
looking  for  a  new  facet  to  entertain- 
ment, a  sound  card  will  enhance 
many  of  the  latest  games. 

When  it  comes  to  hardware,  take 
a  hard  look.  Evaluate  your  needs  and 
balance  them  against  your  desires. 
The  glitter  of  a  new  CPU  is  always 
templing;  the  promise  of  speed,  color, 
and  a  new  generation  of  software  is 
hard  to  resist.  The  promising  technol- 
ogies of  today — digital  video,  CD- 
ROM.  32-bil  power— will  still  be 
around  tomorrow.  And  the  siren  song 
of  full-blast  PC  power  will  by  then 
have  faded  to  a  chorus  of  consent,     s 


COMPUTE 


FEBRUARY        1990 


I  never  thought  I'd  have  so    _ 
much  fun  getting  good  grsldes; 


Davidson  Software  Age  Level  Guide 


PROGRAM 


AGE  LEVEL 


lU         II  12         13         H         IS       Adull 


Math  Blaster  FlusI 
Math  Blaster  Mystery 
Al^e-Blaster  Plus!    iiiV 
Word  Attack  FlusI    "" 
Word  Attack  Plus  Spanish 
Word  Attack  Flua  French 
Math  and  Me 
Beading  and  Me 
Grammar  Qremliiu 
Spell  It  PlusI 
Speed  Reader 
Bead  <N  BoU 
Homeworker 


■^r 


:^}L 


m 


iK     Additiunal  data  dinkfrtPitcrKJ  the  hevnl  ol  iht-  piLij^rjiii 


Circle  Reader  Service  Number  197 


UCLA  Study*  Verifies  Davidson 
Software  Improves  Grades 


English 


Reading  Writing        Spelling 


RepifESentsGP.A  altH 

using  Djvicison  solnvaiB. 


'  Tlie  chart  was  creaiKi  fion  mformattor  galteed  ir  an  independent  study  by  MBA  stwJ&nB  31 
XUi's  &3du3te  Scnwt  dI  Managemenl 


Call  us  toll  free  TODAY  to  find  out  how  your 
kids  can  have  fun  and  improve  their  grades. 

800/556-6141        213/534-2250  (CA) 


Davidson. 


HYPERWHERE? 


Spinnaker  Software  may  link  Macintosh 
HyperCard  stacks  to  the  PC  world  with  a 
hypermedia  conversion/generation 
appiication  caiied  Plus. 
During  a  demonstration  at  Novem- 
ber's CIOMDEX,  Spinnaker  showed  how 
to  move  files  from  a  Macintosh  Ilex 
equipped  with  a  SuperDrive  to  an  IBM 
PS/2  Model  70  running  OS/2.  On  the  Ap- 
ple machine,  the  presenter  opened  a 
HyperCard  stack  under  Plus,  converted 
the  stack  to  an  OS/2-compatible  Plus  stack,  and  then 
saved  the  file  to  a  3y2-inch  OS/2-formatted  disk  in  the 
SuperDrive.  Finally,  he  opened  the  file  on  the  PS/2, 
using  the  OS/2  version  of  Plus. 

To  make  this  transfer,  you  must  have  Plus  on 
both  machines.  There  is  no  direct  route  between 
HyperCard  on  the  Mac  and  Plus  on  the  PS/2. 

Spinnaker  said  the  OS/2  and  Macintosh  versions 
will  probably  hit  the  market  first,  followed  by  the  Win- 
dows version.  Pricing  has  not  been  set,  but  the  com- 
pany plans  to  ship  the  product  in  the  first  half  of  this 
year. 
—PETER  SCISCO 


Parents'  Choice  Awards 

The  1989  Parents'  Choice  annual  awards  hon- 
ored Hi  Tech  Expressions'  Letter  Oo  Round, 
Hartley's  Picture  Parade,  and  Tom  Snyder  Pro- 
ductions' Taking  Responsibility  a.s  the  best  in 
the  software  category.  The  nonprofit  publica- 
tion specializes  In  reviews  of  children's  media. 

Educational  experts  in  Evanston,  Illinois, 
evaluated  the  nominated  software  by  watching 
children  use  the  programs.  The  judges  weighed 
how  well  the  programs  worked  and  how  well 
they  held  a  child's  attention.  Parents'  Choice 
Editor-in-Chief  Diana  Huss  Green  pointed  out 
that  you  have  to  capture  and  hold  children's  in- 
terest before  you  can  teach  them.  Price  was  also 
one  of  the  criteria. 

You  can  get  a  sample  issue  of  Parents' 
Choice  for  S2.  Por  more  information,  contact 
Parents'  Choice,  Box  185,  Waban,  Massachusetts 
08168;  (617)  965-5913.  If  you  order  a  sample  is- 
sue, ask  for  the  award  issue  and  get  more  de- 
tails on  the  winners. 
—RICHARD  C.  LEINECKER 


Gee  Wiz 


The  personal  computer's  ro- 
dent family  took  on  a  ne^A' 
member  lost  November  with 
the  release  of  WIZ  from  Col- 
Comp  of  Anaheim,  California. 
WIZ  combines  a  mouse  with 
an  intelligent  graphics  pod 
and  software  templates. 

The  WIZ  mouse  has  three 
buttons  with  six  programmable 
settings.  The  pad  is  a  little  larg- 
er than  0  standard  sheet  of 
paper  and  includes  a  clear 
plastic  cover  under  which  you 
can  slide  the  templates.  From 
the  template  menus  you  can 
select  various  commands 
without  having  to  puil  down 
menus. 

Available  in  PC  as  well  as 
Macintosh  versions,  the  WiZ  of- 
fers 1000  dots-per-inch  resolu- 


tion. It  will  sell  for  $1 99  through 
the  middle  of  February;  then 
the  price  will  climb  to  $249.  PC 
and  Macintosh  templates  for 
a  variety  of  word  processing, 
desktop  publishing,  CAD,  and 
drawing  programs  retail  for 
$49.  An  optional  pen  for  easier 
drawing  retails  for  $75. 

For  more  information,  con- 
tact CalComp  at  241 1  West 
La  Raima  Avenue,  Anaheim, 
California  92081;  (800)  225- 
2667, 
—PETER  SCISCO 


Chalk  one  up  for  humans.  In  October,  Garri 
Kasparov,  the  world's  premier  chess  mas- 
ter, tteat  Deep  Thought,  the  world's  pre- 
mier chess-playing  computer  program. 
In  spite  of  this  defeat,  the  silicon 
competitor  boasts  several  prestigious  vic- 
tories over  human  grand  masters.  Jim  Ad- 
ams of  the  Association  for  Computing 
Machinery  predicts  that  a  computer  will 
be  the  world  champion  within  four  years. 
Look  out,  Kasparov. 
Deep  Thought  was  developed  by  a  team  of  five 
Carnegie-Mellon  University  graduate  students.  In 
November,  Deep  Thought  headed  for  the  20th  Annual 
North  American  Computer  Chess  Championship  in 
Reno,  Nevada,  where  it  tied  for  first  place  with  Hitech, 
another  Carnegie-Mellon  chess-playing  computer. 
—RICHARD  C.  LEINECKER 


The  HeadStart  Ill-CD  (right)  runs  CD-ROM  software 
on  an  AT-class  platform. 

OH,  SAY  YOU  CD? 

Looks  like  CD-ROM  for  PCs  is  finally  out  of  the  start- 
ing gate  with  the  release  of  two  home  PC  platforms 
from  HeadStart  Technologies. 

The  LX-CD  has  a  suggested  retail  price  of  $1,995, 
without  a  monitor.  It  features  a  5'/i-inch  CD-ROM 
drive  with  stereo  sound,  a  40-megabyte  hard  disk,  a 
high-density  3 '/2-inch  floppy  disk  drive,  VGA  graphics, 
headphones,  serial  and  parallel  ports,  and  a  mouse.  It  is 
powered  by  an  8088  microprocessor  at  4.77/10  mega- 
hertz, comes  with  768K  of  RAM  and  256K  of  video 
RAM,  and  offers  five  expansion  slots  and  a  101-key 
keyboard. 

The  HeadStart  III-CD  is  an  AT-class  machine 
running  at  8/12  megahertz  with  one  megabyte  of 
RAM.  It  adds  to  the  LX-CD  features  a  second  serial 
port,  a  joystick  port,  an  additional  expansion  slot,  and 
a  portable  external  modem.  It  retails  for  $2,995  with- 
out a  monitor. 

With  both  systems,  users  get  a  library  of  software 
on  CD-ROM  discs,  including  MS-DOS  3.3H  (a  special 
version  for  HeadStart  that  allows  for  partitions  greater 
than  32  megabytes),  GW-BASIC,  Publish-Il!.  Splash!, 


PCs,  touchscreens,  and  videodiscs  work  together 
in  this  adult-literacy  program. 

Leading  to  Reading 

An  experimental  program  helps  Improve  the 
reaciing  comprehension  of  adults  with  only  basic 
reading  skills,  Through  newspaper  articles,  the 
program  teaches  readers  how  to  tie  sentences  to- 
gether and  grasp  the  overall  meaning  of  a  story. 

Displaying  articles  from  the  morning  edition 
of  the  Philadelphia  Daily  News,  the  program  asks 
students  to  relate  an  action,  feehng,  thought,  or 
situation  to  something  else  In  the  same  para- 
graph. The  voice  synthesizer  says  unfamiliar 
words  or  sentences  for  the  students,  and  the 
touchscreen  lets  them  use  the  program  without 
typing. 

Developed  by  an  IBM  scientist  and  research- 
ers at  Temple  University  in  Philadelphia,  the  sys- 
tem uses  an  IBM  personal  computer,  a  videodisc, 
a  voice  synthesizer,  and  an  IBM  Info  Window 
touchscreen  monitor  to  display  text  and  video 
onscreen. 

Dr,  Don  Nix,  the  IBM  researcher  who  created 
the  program,  said  that  comprehending  the  over- 
all meaning  of  the  separate  sentences  in  an  arti- 
cle is  a  common  problem  with  low-proficiency 
readers. 

"The  text  appears  as  a  set  of  disparate  sen- 
tences, The  One  Thing  Leads  to  Ano/her  program 
helps  the  students  make  inferential  connections 
necessary  for  reading  comprehension,"  Nix 
explained. 

In  addition  to  the  newspaper  articles,  students 
can  also  watch  full-length  feature  films  on  the 
computer  screen.  Written  text  accompanies  the 
films  and  explains  the  onscreen  action. 
—DENNY  ATKIN 


Twist  &  Shout,  The  Ne^v  Groiier  Electronic  Encyclope- 
dia. Microsoft  Bookshelf,  and  several  other  packages. 
HeadStart  said  that  it  had  agreements  with  soft- 
ware publishers  to  release  future  CD-ROM  disc-based 
packages  at  under  $  100.  The  company  did  not  say  that 
it  would  make  its  CD-ROM  technology  available  on  a 
386  platform,  although  a  spokesperson  said  the  firm 
was  considering  it.  Many  industry  observers  think  the 
386  is  a  more  suitable  piece  of  hardware  for  CD-ROM 
applications. 
—PETER  SCISCO 


No  other  training— 

anywhere— shows  you 

service  computers 


Only  NRI  walks  you  through  the 

step-by-step  assembly  of  a  powerful 

AT-compatible  computer  system 

you  keep— giving  you  the  hands-on 

experience  you  need  to  work  with, 

troubleshoot,  and  senrice  all  of  today'; 

most  widely  used  computer  systems. 

With  NRI  at-home  training,  you  get  everything  you  need 

to  start  a  money-making  career,  even  a  computer  service 

business  of  your  own. 


NEW! 

Now  includes 
AT-compatible 
computer  with  1  meg 
,    RAM  and  20  meg 
hard  drive!        ^ 


No  doubt  about  it.  The  best  way  to 
learn  to  service  computers  is  to 
actually  &m?W a  state-of-the-art 
computer  from  the  keyboard  on 
up.  As  you  put  the  machine 
together,  performing  key  tests  and 
demonstrations  at  each  stage  of 
assembly,  you  see  for  yourself  how 
each  part  of  it  works,  what  can  go 
wrong,  and  how  you  can  fix  it. 

Only  NRI,  the  leader  in  career- 
building  electronics  training  for 
more  than  75  years,  gives  you  such 
practical,  real-world  computer 
servicing  experience.  Indeed,  no 
other  training — in  school,  on  the 
job,  anywhere — shows  you  how 
to  troubleshoot  and  service 
computers  like  NRI. 

You  get  in-demand 
computer  skills  as  you 

train  with  your  own 

AT-compatible  computer 

system— now  witii  20  meg 

hard  drive  and  1  meg  RAM 

With  NRI's  exclusive  hands-on 
training,  you  actually  build  and 
keep  the  powerful  new  AT- 
compatible  West  Coast  1010  ES 
computer,  complete  with  1  meg 
RAM  and  20  meg  hard  disk  drive. 

You  start  by  assembling  and 
testing  the  "intelligent"  keyboard, 
move  on  to  test  the  circuitry  on  the 
main  logic  board,  install  the  power 
supply  and  5-  V^ "  floppy  disk  drive. 


then  interface  your  high- 
resolution  monitor.  But 
that's  not  all. 

Only  NRI  gives  you 

a  top-rated  micro 

with  complete 

training  built  into 

the  assembly 

process 


HARD  DISK  DRIVE 

20  niL-j»;ih\  tc  h:ird 
tli.sk  drivf  you 
iriMUll  [[Hcriially  for 
grc:iit:r  disk  storage 
capacity  and  data 
access  speed. 


AT-COMPATIBLE 
COMPUTER 

802«CiCPU(12MH2 
clock.  0  wait  stales),  L 
mcp  RAM  (expandable 
111  -1  meg),  1 .2  meg 
high-density  floppy 
disk  drive. 


DIGITAL 
MULTIMETER 

Professiotial  test 
instrument  for 
quick  and  easy 
circuit 
measurements. 


Your  NRI  hands-on 
training  continues  as 
you  install  the  powerful 
20  megabyte  hard  disk 
drive — today's  most- 
wanted  computer 
peripheral — included 
in  your  course  to 
dramadcally  increase  your 
computer's  data  storage  capacity 
while  giving  you  lightning-quick 
data  access. 

Having  fully  assembled  your 
West  Coast  1010  ES,  you  take  it 
through  a  complete  series  of  diag- 
nostic tests,  mastering  professional 
computer  servicing  techniques  as 
you  take  command  of  the  fhll 
power  of  your  computer's  high- 
speed 80286  microprocessor. 

In  no  time  at  all,  you  have  the 
confidence  and  the  know-how  to 
work  with,  troubleshoot,  and 
ser\'ice  every  computer  on  the 
market  today.  Indeed,  you  have 
what  it  takes  to  step  into  a  full-time, 


LESSONS 

Clearcu!,  illustrated 
texts  build  your 

understanding  of 
computers  step  by 
step. 


SOFTWARE 

Including  MS-DOS 
GW-BASIC.  word 
processing, 
database,  and 
spreadsheet 
programs. 


money-making  career  as  an  industry 
technician,  even  start  a  computer 
service  business  of  your  own. 


Voice  synthesis 

training  adds  an 

exciting  new  dimension 

to  your  computer  skills 

Now  NRI  even  includes  innovative 
hands-on  training  in  voice  syn- 
thesis, one  of  today's  most  exciting 
and  widely  applied  new  develop- 
ments in  computer  technology'. 

You  now  train  with  and  keep 
a  full-featured  8-bit  D/A  converter 
that  attaches  in-line  with  your 
computer's  parallel  printer  port. 


einn     f^^ 


in  school,  on  the  job, 
how  to  troubleshoot  and 
likeNRI 


MONrroR 

High-resolution, 
nonglarc,  12"  TTL 
monochrome 
monitor  with  tilt  and 
swivel  hase. 


TECHHICAL 
MANUALS 

YouKci  "inside" 
your  Packard  Bell 
tomputcr  sjileni 
with  exclusive  NRl 
Training  Kit  Manuals 
plus  technical  specs 
direct  from  the 
manufacturer. 


DISCOVBtY  LAB 

Complflc 

breadlioardinp 
system  to  let  you 
desiso  ami  modify 
circuits,  diagnose  and 
repair  faults. 


Using  your  D/A  converter  along 
with  the  exclusive  text-to-speech 
software  also  included,  you  explore 
the  fascinating  technology  behind 
both  digitized  and  synthesized 
computer  speech. 

You  discover  how  you  can 
use  your  computer  to  access  and 
play  back  a  variety  of  prerecorded 
sounds . . .  you  see  how  to  add 
speech  and  sound  effects  to 
programs  written  in  BASIC,  C, 
Pascal,  and  others , . .  you  even 
learn  how  to  produce  high-quality 
speech  directly  from  your  own 
original  printed  text. 

NRI's  exclusive  new  hands-on 
training  in  voice  synthesis  is  just 


one  more  way  NRI  gives 
you  the  confidence- 
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need  to  feel  at  home  with 
the  latest  advances  in 
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No  experience 

needed,  NRI 

builds  it  in 

You  need  no  previous 
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With  NRI,  you  learn  at  your 
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Your  FREE 
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Send  today  for  your  free  full-color 
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If  the  coupon  is  missing, 
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Wow!  I  Could've  Had  a  V20! 

I've  been  hearing  a  lot  of  rumors 
about  the  V20  chip  from  NEC,  and 
I'm  hoping  you  can  clear  the  air  a  lit- 
tle. It's  supposed  to  be  a  pin-for-pin 
replacement  for  the  8088  processor. 
Do  you  know  of  any  8088  computers 
for  which  this  doesn't  work,  say  a 
Sanyo  MBC-550? 

I've  heard  that  the  V20  runs  fast- 
er than  the  8088  and  can  run  old  8080 
software  and,  with  an  emulator,  CP/M 
programs. 

Can  you  tell  me  the  facts  about 
this  chip? 

LEONARD  HARRIS 
MARIPOS-V,  CA 

The  NEC  V20  microprocessor  is  a 
pin-compatible  replacement  for  the 
8088  microprocessor.  Depending  on 
which  application  you're  running, 
you  should  see  a  3-iO  percent 
speedup  with  the  V20.  NEC's  tech- 
nical hotline  said  the  V20  should 
work  in  any  8088-based  system,  in- 
cluding your  Sanyo  MBC-550.  The 
only  system  we  know  of  that  won't 
work  with  the  V20  is  the  Amiga 
2088  BridgeCard  See  "Upgrade 
Fever"  on  page  36  for  more  infor- 
mation on  the  V20  and  other  PC 
speedups. 

You  can  run  some  CP/M  pro- 
grams on  a  V20  system  with  a  soft- 
ware emulator.  However,  it  has 
been  a  couple  of  years  since  we've 
seen  such  an  emulator  advertised. 

Out  in  the  Coid? 

I  have  had  an  IBM  PS/2  Model  30  for 
over  two  years.  I  bought  it  to  write, 
and  I  fmd  that  the  machine  lives  up  to 
and  beyond  what  the  local  IBM  agent 
promised  me. 

The  problem?  My  kids  are  keen 
to  use  the  machine,  but  Dad  owns  the 
only  member  of  the  PS/2  family  that 
has  an  MCGA  monitor.  So  when  it 
comes  to  those  handsome  programs 
reviewed  and  advertised  in  your  valu- 
able magazine,  the  MCGA  monitor 
apparently  leaves  us  out  in  the  cold. 
Few  of  those  programs  seem  to  know 
of  or  care  about  our  kind  of  monitor. 


The  result:  inferior  graphics. 

Am  1  too  pessimistic?  Can  my 
machine  be  adapted? 


GEORGE RUSHE 
RAOET,  BERMUDA 


A  subset  of  the  VGA  graphics  stand- 
ard, MCGA  gives  you  the  320  X 
200,  256-color  graphics  mode,  but 
not  the  EGA  emulation  and  high- 
resolution  640  X  350,  16-color 
mode.  However,  most  VGA  games 
use  the  lower  resolution  in  order  to 
take  advantage  of  the  extra  colors 
available,  so  they  should  work  fine 
on  your  MCGA  system.  If  there's  no 
MCGA  option  on  the  game's  setup 
screen,  try  the  VGA  setting. 

Purple  Faces 

I  own  an  IBM  XT  with  a  CGA  card 
and  a  Sakata  RGB  monitor.  If  I  up- 
grade my  color  card  to  EGA  or  VGA, 
will  it  still  be  compatible  with  the 
monitor?  I'm  a  pixel-freak,  but  my 
system  really  frustrates  me.  While  the 
resolution  is  excellent,  the  color 
makes  me  want  to  puke.  Imagine  hu- 
man characters  with  purple  faces. 
From  the  looks  of  them,  they  also 
want  to  puke. 

That  is  why  I  envy  Amiga  users. 
Is  there  any  way  my  system  can  match 
the  Amiga  when  it  comes  to  graphics 
and  sounds? 

CARLO  R.  MONTCnA 
CF.BU.  PHILIPPINES 

You  can  use  an  EGA  card  with  a 
CGA  monitor  in  the  low-resolution. 
320  X  200  16-color  mode.  You'll 
need  an  EGA  monitor  to  run  games 
thai  use  the  640  X  350  pixel  high- 
resolution  mode,  though.  To  use 
VGA  graphics  modes,  you'll  need  a 
VGA  or  multisync  monitor  in  addi- 
tion to  the  VGA  card. 

To  bring  your  system's  graph- 
ics and  sound  performance  more  in 
line  with  that  of  an  Amiga,  you'll 
want  to  add  a  VGA  card  and  moni- 
tor and  a  sound  board.  We'll  have 
an  in-depth  comparison  of  some  of 
the  hottest  PC  sound  boards  on  the 
market  in  our  AprU  issue. 


COMPUTE! 

TrtE    COICI     Dr    MOWE    PC    ENTMUSlASTI    SINCE     Ifl7V 


Editor 

Senitx  An  Oirector 

Features  Editof 

Assistant  Editors 


Manager.  Disk  Products 

Assistanl  Features  Editor 

Editorial  Assistants 

Copy  Editors 

Contributing  Editor 
ART  DEPARTMENT 

Assistant  Art  Director 

Mectianical  Art  Supervisor 

Junior  Designers 


Peter  Scisco 
Janice  R.  Fary 
Keith  Ferrell 
Denny  Athin 
Heidi  E.  H.  Aycock 
Richard  C.  Leinecker 
David  Hensley,  Jr. 
Tom  Netsel 
Eiizabetti  Casey 
Mickey  McLean 
Karen  Siepak 
Karen  Ut^lendorf 
David  Tttornburg 

Robin  L.  SIrelOvtf 
Robin  Case 
Scotty  Billings 
Meg  McArn 


PRODUCTION 
DEPARTMENT 

Production  Director  Mark  E.  HiJIyer 

Assistanl  Production  Manager  De  Potter 

Production  Assistant  Barbara  A.  Wlliiamg 

Typesetting  Terry  Costi 

Carole  Ounton 
Advertising/Production 

Assistant  Tammie  Taylor 

ADMINISTRATIVE  STAFF 

Executive  Assistant   Sybil  Agee 
Senior  Admintstrative 

Assistant  Julia  Fleming 
Administrative  Assistant   Linda  Benson 
Customer  Service 

Coordinator  EKreda  Chavis 

COMPUTE!  PUBLICATIONS 
Group  Vice  President. 
Publist>er/Ediiohal  Director  William  Tynan 
Associate  Publisher/Ediioria!  Lance  Ell<o 
Associate  Pubtisher/ 

Aflvertising   Bernard  J.  Theobald,  Jr. 
Managing  Editor  Kattileen  Marlinek 
Editorial  operations  Director  Tony  Roberts 
Editorial  Marketing  Manager  Caroline  D.  Hanlon 
Advertising  Marketing 

Manager  Kattileen  Ingram 

ABC  CONSUMER 
MAGAZINES,  INC. 

President  Gary  R,  Ingersoll 

Senior  Vice  President  Richard  D.  Bay 

Director.  Financial  Analysts  Andrew  D.  Landis 

Director  of  Ctrculatton  Harold  Buckley 

CIRCULATION 
DEPARTMENT 
Subscriptions  Jeanne  Andrews 
Maureen  Buckley 
Jenny  Lam 
Raymond  Ward 
Newsstand    Peter  J.  Birmingham 
Jana  Friedman 
Customer  Service  (800)  72T-6937 

ONE  OF  THE  ® 

COMWNtES  ^^ 

Robert  G.  Burton,  President 

825  Seventli  Avenue 

New  York,  NY  10019 

ADVERTISING  OFFICES 

Nev^  York:  ABC  Consumer  Magazines,  Inc..  825  Seventh 
Ave.,  New  York.  NY  10019.  Bernard  J.  Theobald,  Jr., 
Associate  Publisher/Advertising,  (201)  9B9-7553. 
(201)989-7554  FAX. 

Greensboro:  COMPUTE!  Publteations,  324  West 
Wendover  Ave.,  Suite  200,  Greensboro,  NC  274D8i 
(919)  275-9809.  Kathleen  Ingram.  Marketing  Manager. 
New  England  &  Mid-Atlantic:  Bernard  J.  Theobakl,  Jr. 
(201)  989-7553.  Kathleen  Ingram  (919)  275-9809, 
Midiwes!  &  Southwest:  Jerry  Thompson.  Lucille  Dennis 
(312)  726-6047  [Chicagol:  (713)  731-2605  [Texas]; 
(303)  595-9299  [Coloradol;  (415)  348-6222  |Calitornia). 
West,  Northwest,  &  British  Columbia:  Jerry  Thompson 
(415)  348-8222:  Lucille  Dennis  (415)  878-4905. 
Southeast  &  International:  Bernard  J.  Tt>eot>ak].  Jr. 
(201)  989-7553;  Kathleen  Ingram  (919)  275-9809. 
National  Accounts  Oftice; 

Midwest:  Stan-  Lane,  National  Accounts  Manager  (312) 
462-2872.  1S1  S,  Gary  Ave..  Carol  Stream.  IL  60188-2089. 
Address  all  advertising  matenals  to  Tammie  Taylor. 
COMPUTE!  Publications.  Inc..  324  West  Wendover  toe,. 

Suite  200.  Greensboro.  NC  27408. 

Editorial  inquiries  sfxHJid  tie  addressed  to  The  Editor. 
COMPUTE!,  Suite  200,  324  West  Wendover  Ave., 
Greensboro,  NC  274DB. 

The 

Atitlil 

Sureati 


PaiNTED  IN  THE  U.S.A. 


^ 


10 


COMPUTE! 


FEBRUARY       1990 


Finding  the  Winners 

DOS  4.x 

Publish-It!  Lite! 

Microsoft  Word  5.0 

Timeworks 

In  January,  we  gave  out  COMPUTE! 

Microsoft 

444  Lake  Cook  Rd. 

Choice  Awards,  and,  since  then, 

16011  NE  36th  Way 

Deerfield,  IL  60015 

readers  have  been  asking  us  how  to 

Box  97017 

(312)  948-9200 

find  these  prizewinning  products.  So 

Redmond,  WA  98073-9717 

we've  put  together  a  list  to  help  you 

(206)  882-8080 

Red  Storm  Rising 

locate  the  best  software  of  1 989. 

Micro  Prose 

Kings  of  the  Beach 

1 80  Lakefront  Dr. 

Archipelagos 

Electronic  Arts 

Hunt  Valley,  MD  21030 

Fanfare 

1820  Gateway  Dr. 

(301)  771-1151 

Distributed  by  Britannica  Software 

San  Mateo,  CA  94404 

345  Fourth  St. 

(415)571-7171 

Sharp  Wizard 

San  Francisco,  CA  94107 

Sharp  Electronics 

(415)546-1866 

King's  Quest  IV 

Sharp  Plaza 

Sierra 

Mahwah.  NJ  07430-2135 

Arriba 

P.O.  Box  485 

(800)  237-4277 

Good  Software 

Coarsegold,  CA  93614 

1 3601  Preston  Rd. 

(209)  683-6858 

SimCity 

Dallas,  TX  75240 

Maxis 

(800)  272-4663 

PC  Globe  3.0 

1042  Country  Club  Dr. 

PC  Globe 

Suite  C 

BetterWorking  Eight-in-One 

2100  S,  Rural  Rd. 

Moraga,  CA  94556 

Spinnaker  Software 

Tempe,  AZ  85282 

(415)376-6434 

One  Kendall  Sq. 

(602)  894-6866 

Cambridge,  MA  02139 

UltraVision 

(617)  494-1200 

PC  Tools  Deluxe  5.5 

Person  ics 

Central  Point  Software 

63  Great  Rd. 

The  Children's  Writing  & 

15220  NW  Greenbrier  Pkwy.  #200 

Maynard,  MA  01754 

Publishing  Center 

Beaverton,  OR  97006 

(800)445-3311 

The  Learning  Company 

(503)  690-8090 

(508)  897-1575 

6493  Kaiser  Dr. 

Fremont,  CA.  94555 

The  Perfect  Career 

Vette! 

(415)  792-2101 

Mindscape 

Spectrum  HoloByte 

3444  Dundee  Rd. 

2061  Challenger  Dr. 

College  Explorer 

Northbrook,  IL  60062 

Alameda.  CA  94501 

The  College  Board 

(708)  480-7667 

(415)  522-3584 

College  Board  Publications 

Box  886  Dept.  P08 

Perspective  Junior 

New  York,  NY  10101-0886 

Three  D  Graphics 

(212)713-8165 

860  Via  de  la  Paz 

Pacific  Palisades,  CA  90272 

(213)459-7949 

B 

V 


>9SiV 


NUMBER0ID5 

from  deep  space 


% 


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''.vitfi  piuicfi.i'.e  o) 
NUA/tBEROIOS  from  deep  space 


*  A  basic  arithmetic  learning  tool  for  ages  6  &  up. 
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COMPUTE!  SPECIFIC 


POWER  UP 

The  Norton  Commander  (Peter 
Norton  Computing,  100  Wil- 
shire  Boulevard,  9tti  Floor, 
Santa  Monica,  California 
90401;  800-365-1010;  SI  49)  is 
back.  Witli  version  3.0,  Com- 
mander  boasts  a  sligtitly  up- 
dated  look  and  scores  of  new 
features. 

Wtien  version  2.0  w/as  re- 
leased, it  received  universal  ac- 
claim. Easy  disk  navigation  and 
file  management  combined 
witti  a  sleek  menu  system 
made  this  elegant  program  the 
DOS  shell  to  have.  \*rsion  3.0 
keeps  the  look  and  feel  of  2.0, 
but  it  takes  that  version's 
strong  points  and  expands  on 
them. 

One  especially  useful  fea- 
ture of  2.0  was  its  viewers  for 
dBase  and  Lotus  files.  If  it's 
easy  to  view  and  search  your 
databases  and  work  sheets, 
managing  them  is  much  sim- 
pler. Everyone  liked  friese 
viewers,  and  this  feature  was 
widely  copied  by  other  shell 
programs. 

There  are  too  many  file 
viewers  supported  in  3.0  to  list 
here,  but  every  major  spread- 
sheet, word  processor,  and 
database  is  represented,  as 
are  PCX  graphics  files.  (Maybe 
we'll  see  viewers  for  GIF-  and 
IFF-graphics  formats  in  the 
next  release.) 

Mouse  support  has  been 
beefed  up,  too.  The  mouse 
was  a  strong  point  with  version 


2.0,  but  in  3.0  you  can  do  al- 
most anything  with  it.  Shift-click 
and  Alt-click  combinations 
have  been  added  to  increase 
the  number  of  mouse-execut- 
able commands,  and  there  are 
more  selections  on  the  pro- 
gram's pull-down  menus.  But 
even  with  all  this  mouse  power 
the  DOS  command  line  is  al- 
ways at  the  bottom  of  the 
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you  to  start  typing. 

The  new  Commander 
communicates.  If  you  have  a 
laptop  and  you  want  to  transfer 
files  between  it  and  your  desk- 
top, Commarider  can  do  it.  You 
simply  connect  the  two  ma- 
chines with  a  special  null- 
modem  cable  (Norton  Comput- 
ing sells  one  for  S29.95),  run 
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both  computers,  and  start 
moving  data.  The  Norton  Com- 
mander also  communicates  via 
MCI  mail.  With  3.0  and  an  MC! 
account,  you  can  start  whip- 
ping out  electronic  mail. 

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ers, more  mouse  support,  and 
new  communications  skills, 
there  are  many  small  improve- 
ments that  make  the  program 
faster  or  easier  to  use.  For 
example,  menus  and  dialog 
boxes  now  have  drop-shadows, 
and  there's  a  screen-blanking 
function  with  a  user-adjustable 
timer.  If  you  vrant  to  blank  the 
screen  without  waiting  for  the 


timer,  simply  move  the  mouse 
pointer  to  the  upper  right  cor- 
ner. While  the  screen  is 
blanked,  you'll  see  stars  and 
rapid  cursor  movement  just  to 
remind  you  (or  anyone  who 
happens  upon  your  computer 
while  you're  away)  that  the  ma- 
chine is  active. 

To  sum  up:  Commander  is 
back,  and  it  is  still  the  DOS 
shell  to  beat.  If  you  want  to 
take  a  break  from  the  com- 
mand line,  don't  miss  it.  If  you 
already  have  2.0,  upgrade! 


Mouse  Race 


in  the  race  to  build  the  best 
mouse,  Microsoft  just  lapped 
the  competition.  Its  new  400 
Series  mouse  (Microsoft, 
16011  NE  36th  Way,  Redmond, 
Washington  98073;  206-882- 
8080;  $150)  combines  high- 
resolution  mouse  hardware 
with  a  dynamic  ballistic  driver 
for  unparalleled  speed  and 
control. 

The  new  mouse  has  the 
same  Dove-bar  design  that 
caused  such  a  stir  when  it  was 
originally  released,  but  the 
mouse's  internal  workings 
pump  up  the  resolution  from 
200  to  400  points  per  inch  (ppi). 
This  means  that,  even  in  high- 
resolution  displays,  this  mouse 
has  excellent  control. 

And  the  new  driver  is  now 


A  NEW  COMMANDER 

PC  SOFTWARE  GEMS 

COMMODORE  MILLIONS 

AN  APPLE  MYSTERY 

AMIGA  COMAL  ARRIVES 

WONDERFUL  MAC  CD-ROMS 


fully  ballistic.  The  mouse  trav- 
els a  greater  distance  when 
you  move  it  quickly  than  when 
you  move  it  slowly.  This  makes 
sense  when  you  think  about  it. 
If  you're  moving  the  mouse 
fast,  you're  probably  trying  to 
get  someplace  else  on  the 
screen.  If  you're  moving  it 
slowly,  you're  usually  trying  for 
accuracy. 

When  you  move  the  400 
Series  mouse  quickly,  it  cross- 
es a  normal  80-column  text 
screen  with  less  than  1  inch  of 
mouse  movement — a  mere 
flick  of  the  wrist.  If  you  move 
the  mouse  slowly,  the  same 
cross-screen  journey  takes 
more  than  SVs  inches. 

The  accuracy  of  the 
mouse  at  slow  speeds  is  a  re- 
sult of  its  400-ppi  resolution.  Its 
ballistic  movement  comes  from 
its  new  driver.  This  driver  de- 
tects an  increase  in  mouse 
speed  and  moves  ttie  mouse 
faster  when  you  cross  the 
speed  threshold.  What  makes 
this  driver  handle  so  well  is  that 
it  has  16  of  these  thresholds, 
so  the  software  is  constanty 
adjusting  to  the  speed  you 
move  the  mouse. 

You  can  customize  the 
mouse  driver's  operation  by 
choosing  among  four  speeds 
and  three  ballistic  profiles.  If 
you  don't  like  the  supplied  bal- 
listic profiles,  you  can  custom- 
design  your  own.  You  can't  go 
wrong  with  this  mouse. 


New  Ride 


speaking  of  mice,  almost  every 
Microsoft  product  supports  the 
mouse,  and  most  come  with 
Microsoft's  latest  driver  soft- 
ware. You  may  have  ignored 
these  up-to-date  drivers  be- 
cause you  assumed  they 
wouldn't  work  with  your 
mouse,  but  there  are  some 
good  reasons  you  should  give 
them  a  try 

New  applications  often 
require  new  drivers,  and  the 
driver  you're  using  (and  possi- 
bly even  the  latest  one  a  non- 


14      COMPUTEI 


FEBRUARY       1990 


Microsoft  mouse  maker  sup- 
plies)  may  not  work  with  new 
products. 

For  example,  if  you're 
using  tlie  PC  Tools  Deluxe 
shell  with  a  Keytronics  driver 
and  you  use  the  mouse  to 
change  screen  colors,  the  pro- 
gram crashes  and  your  system 
hangs.  You'd  probably  attribute 
the  crash  to  any  number  of 
things,  but  chances  are  you'd 
never  suspect  your  mouse 
driver. 

The  newest  version  of 
Microsoft  Word  is  another  ex- 
ample. Load  anything  but  the 
latest  mouse  driver  (which 
Microsoft  supplies  with  the 
program),  and  you'll  get  ran- 
dom garbage  on  the  screen  in 
graphics  mode. 

So,  if  you're  offered  a 
newer  driver  with  a  Microsoft 
product,  try  it.  Chances  are  it 
will  work  with  your  mouse.  The 
problem  you'll  run  into  is  that  it 
won't  work  well.  At  feast  not  at 
first 

With  most  non-Microsoft 
mice,  the  Microsoft  driver  will 
be  sluggish.  You  can  adjust  the 
sensitivity  of  the  driver  and 
cure  this  problem,  but  unfortu- 
nately, the  information  you 
need  to  do  this  appears  in  the 
mouse  manual  that  comes  with 
the  Microsoft  mouse.  If  you  re- 
ceive an  updated  driver  and 
you  don't  have  a  Microsoft 
mouse,  you're  out  in  the  cold. 
Here's  some  help. 

There  are  two  ways  to  set 
the  mouse's  sensitivity.  You 
can  indicate  both  horizontal 
and  vertical  sensitivity  with 
MOUSE. SYS  Isn.  where  s  is 
sensitivity,  or  speed.  Or  you 
can  specify  horizontal  and  ver- 
tical sensitivity  separately  with 
WOUSE.SYS  Ihn  /vn,  with  h 
and  V  the  horizontal  and  verti- 
cal sensitivities,  respectively. 
The  value  for  n  can  range  from 
5-1 00,  with  higher  numtiers 
making  a  faster  mouse.  You 
use  the  same  syntax  whether 
you  install  the  mouse  as  a  de- 
vice driver  or  a  TSR. 

My  experience  with  non- 
Microsoft  mice  suggests  a  sen- 
sitivity of  about  55.  If  you  want 
to  be  more  precise,  you  can  try 
a  horizontal  value  of  56  and  a 
vertical  one  of  54.  Start  with 
these  and  experiment. 


Shareware-for-a-Day 


Xtree's  Software  Amnesty  for 
Everyone  (SAFE)  program  (see 
the  October  1989  "Power  Up") 
was  a  huge  success,  according 
to  a  company  spokesman. 
SAFE  allowed  those  with  pirat- 
ed copies  of  Xfree  to  become 
fully  registered  users  and  re- 


ceive a  manual,  all  for  $20. 

Registrations  have  netted 
Xtree  thousands  of  new  regis- 
tered users.  Many  of  these,  the 
company  hopes,  will  buy  up- 
grades. And  many  may  spring 
for  Xtree's  hot  new  Xtree  Pro 
Gold,  a  disk  and  file  manager 
with  some  powerful  features 
(more  on  Xtree  Pro  Gold  in  an 
upcoming  "Power  Up"). 

Amnesty  may  be  catching 
on.  Although  it  isn't  comment- 
ing on  the  results,  XyQuest  ran 
its  own  XyWrite  amnesty  pro- 
gram this  past  August,  and  the 
company  says  it's  pleased  with 
the  response. 

Now  Unison  World,  the 
publisher  of  PrintMaster,  is 
running  its  own  program,  and 
it's  rumored  that  a  major  pub- 
lisher (WordPerfect?)  will  an- 
nounce amnesty  plans  soon. 
—  Clifton  Karnes 


DOS  PROMPT 

Recently,  while  organizing  my 
office,  I  stumbled  across  sever- 
al software  gems — offbeat  or 
little-known  programs  that  tend 
to  tie  overlooked.  I  thought  I'd 
devote  this  month's  "DOS 
Prompt"  to  sharing  a  few  of 
these  with  you. 


Micro  Libraries 


It  will  be  awhile  before  the  cost 
of  CD-ROM  devices  drops  to  a 
level  where  they'll  be  practical 
for  the  mass  market.  But  a  line 
of  products  already  exists 
which  provides  quick  access  to 
large  resource-oriented  files 
found  on  CD-ROMs,  requiring 
only  a  hard  disk. 

The  Micro  Library  Series 
(INDUCTEL,  18661  McCoy 
Avenue,  Saratoga,  California 
95070-9970;  800-367-4497; 
S49.95  each)  combines  a  mem- 
ory-resident utility  with  several 
disk-based  dictionaries,  to 
place  a  wide  range  of  research 
information,  quite  literally,  at 
your  fingertips. 

At  the  heart  of  the  Micro 
Library  Series  is  the  KAS 
(Knowledge  Access  System). 
This  ter  minate-and-stay- 
resident  (TSR)  "lookup  engine" 
lets  you  quickly  find  and  dis- 
play information  stored  in  com- 
pressed disk  files  designed  to 
take  advantage  of  its  advanced 
indexing  and  data-retrieval  ca- 
pabilities. Current  offerings  in 
the  Micro  Library  Series  in- 
clude a  1 00,000-plus  word 
Funk  and  Wagnalls  Standard 
Desfr  Dictionary,  The  Concise 
Dictionary  of  26  Languages,  a 
nationwide  ZIP  code  directory, 
and  several  McGraw-Hill  tech- 


nical dictionaries,  encompass- 
ing individual  lexicons  devoted 
to  computer  terminology,  phys- 
ics, biology,  electrical  engineer- 
ing, chemical  terms,  and 
mechanical  engineering.  More 
KAS-compatible  dictionaries 
and  databases  are  on  the  way. 

The  KAS  lookup  engine  is 
compatible  with  a  number  of 
popular  MS-DOS  programs 
[WordPerfect,  Lotus  1-2-3, 
Microsoft  Word,  WordStar, 
MultiMate,  and  the  PFS  series, 
among  others),  which  means 
you  can  be  viorking  in  one  of 
these  applications,  "hot  key" 
to  KAS,  look  up  the  information 
you  need,  and  then  quickly  re- 
turn to  the  interrupted  task. 
As  an  alternative,  you  can  run 
the  Micro  Library  System  in  a 
multitasking  session,  using 
DESQview,  Microsoft  Windows 
(2,0  and  386),  or  Software 
Carousel. 

In  TSR  mode,  the  KAS 
lookup  engine  requires  128K  of 
RAM.  The  individual  dictio- 
naries comprising  the  various 
library  flies  consume  anywhere 
from  1 .2  to  5.6  megabytes  of 
hard  disk  space.  Until  CD-ROM 
systems  become  a  viable  op- 
tion, which  won't  happen  any- 
time soon,  the  Micro  Library 
Series  offers  a  practical  alter- 
native to  meeting  your  online 
research  needs. 


Losing  the  TSR  Blues 


Speaking  of  TSRs,  they  can  be 
a  pain,  Many's  the  time  my  PC 
operations  have  come  to  a 
screeching  halt  because  two 
incompatible  TSRs  collided 
with  one  another  in  system 
RAM.  Two  shareware  utility 
programs  I  recently  download- 
ed from  a  local  bulletin  txDard 
service  (BBS)  have  ail  but  elimi- 
nated this  problem  for  me. 

Mark  and  Release  work 
together  to  avoid  TSR  conflicts. 
If  you  use  Mark  to  place  a 
memory  marker  in  RAM  before 
loading  a  TSR,  running  Re- 
lease  can  locate  that  memory 
marker  and  remove  its  associ- 
ated TSR  from  RAM.  Using 
Mark  and  Release,  you  could, 
for  example,  issue  the  follow- 
ing DOS  command  before 
loading  SideKick  in  your  sys- 
tem: MARK  SK,  If  you  subse- 
quently needed  to  use  another 
memory-resident  program  that 
you  know  clashes  with  that 
Boriand  TSR,  typing  RELEASE 
SK  would  flush  SideKick  from 
RAM. 

As  I  mentioned  earlier, 
Mark  and  Release  are  Share- 
ware programs,  which  means 
you  should  be  able  to  find  them 
on  a  local  BBS  and  download 


them.  They  also  are  available 
through  several  commercial 
online  information  services.  On 
GEnie,  for  example,  Mark  and 
Release  can  be  found  in  sec- 
tion 5  of  the  IBM  PC  Round- 
table,  in  a  file  that  is  called 
TSRCOM29.ARC.  (You'll  have 
to  use  a  second  shareware 
program, /(RCECOM,  to  un- 
compress this  file  before  you'll 
be  able  to  run  Mark  and 
Release.) 


i\/lini-Multitasi<ing 


Multitasking  is  currently  a  hot 
topic  in  the  PC  community. 
With  the  emergence  of  prod- 
ucts like  DESQview,  Microsoft 
Windows,  and  the  OS/2  oper- 
ating system,  users  have  be- 
come sensitized  to  Itie 
limitations  inherent  in  the  one- 
machine/one-task  philosophy 
that  has  dominated  the  DOS 
market  for  neariy  a  decade. 
Not  everyone,  however,  needs 
the  advanced  features  built  into 
the  three  multitasking  environ- 
ments listed  above.  For  many 
people,  a  less  expensive,  low- 
er-tech program  that  supports 
only  limited  multitasking  capa- 
bilities will  suffice.  One  alterna- 
tive available  is  PC-MIX 
(Proware,  110719  Piano  Road, 
Suite  1 00,  Dallas,  Texas  75238; 
21 4-349-3790;  $49.95). 

PC-MIX  allows  you  to  load 
as  many  as  three  application 
programs  into  RAM  at  the 
same  time.  Furthermore,  if 
enough  memory  is  available, 
tvTO  of  these  can  be  processing 
in  the  background  while  you 
use  the  third  in  the  foreground 
of  a  multitasking  session.  PC- 
MIX  recognizes  and  will  use 
expanded  memory,  so  the  total 
RAM  requirements  of  your 
three  applications  can  exceed 
the  infamous  DOS  640K  mem- 
ory barrier. 

As  you  might  expect,  giv- 
en its  low-tech  approach  and 
surprisingly  low  price,  PC-MIX 
does  have  some  limitations. 
For  example,  it's  not  a  window- 
ing environment.  Rather,  the 
foreground  application  com- 
pletely takes  over  your  monitor. 
Also,  PC-MIX  can  have  trouble 
managing  graphics  applica- 
tions and  programs  that  by- 
pass DOS's  standard  BIOS 
routines  when  writing  to  the 
display  screen.  If  you  use  pri- 
marily BIOS-compatible  text- 
based  applications,  however, 
and  are  interested  in  endowing 
your  PC  with  limited  multitask- 
ing capabilities,  you  should 
look  into  PC-MIX. 

That's  it  for  now.  Remem- 
ber, I  want  your  input  on  this 
column.  Send  any  questions. 


FEBRUARY       1990 


C    O    M    P    U    T    E    1 


15 


comments,  suggestions,  and 
so  on  to  COMPUTE! 's  editorial 
offices  (324  West  Wendover 
Avenue,  Suite  200,  Greens- 
boro, North  Carolina  27408),  or 
drop  me  an  electronic  note  on 
either  CompuServe  (73047, 
1122)or  DELPHI  (NIMS).  See 
you  next  month. 
—  Jack  Nimersheim 


I  read  a  lot  of  computer  maga- 
zines every  month,  including 
several  covering  the  MS-DOS 
world.  Rarely  do  any  of  these 
magazines  even  mention  the 
Commodore  64,  mainly  be- 
cause their  readership,  under- 
standably, wants  to  read  about 
the  machines  they  own.  Re- 
cently, though,  I've  seen  the  64 
mentioned  twice,  and  both  in- 
stances were  a  little  infuriating. 

One  magazine  was  re- 
viewing Commodore's  PC40- 
III.  The  reviewer  cited 
Commodore  as  the  company 
that  put  the  Commodore  64 
into  over  a  million  households. 
A  million?  Last  I  heard,  sales 
had  surpassed  7  million.  Even 
with  two  in  some  households, 
there  must  still  be  64s  in  at 
leasts  million  homes. 

A  more  recent  reference 
has  a  respected  columnist  call- 
ing the  64  "dopey."  Now,  com- 
pared to  some  of  the  S9,000 
machines  some  of  these  peo- 
ple recommend,  the  64  is  in- 
deed quite  dopey.  But  he  was 
suggesting  that  low-end  MS- 
DOS  machines  continue  to 
sell  because  they  are  all  that 
some  users  need.  Just  like  the 
dopey  64. 

The  &4  itself  is  anything 
but  dopey  especially  in  com- 
parison to  the  machines  to 
which  it's  being  compared. 
Those  machines  are  predomi- 
nantly monochrome  or  have 
lousy  four-color  graphics.  They 
also  have  plinks  and  bleeps  for 
sound,  nothing  like  the  64's 
SID  chip.  Admittedly,  these  ma- 
chines have  more  memory,  but 
the  operating  system  and  the 


programs  often  chew  up  most 
of  that  memory.  And  only  re- 
cently have  the  machines  been 
as  low  as  three  times  the  64's 
price. 


Empire 


Well,  it's  finally  here.  Available 
for  years  on  mainframe  com- 
puters. Empire  (Interslel,  P.O. 
Box  57835,  Webster.  Texas 
77598;  713-486-4163:  S39.95) 
showed  up  a  few  years  ago  for 
the  Atari  ST  and  the  Amiga. 
Now  it's  been  released  for  the 
Commodore  64/128. 

Empire's  box  warns,  "This 
program  is  highly  addictive! 
Considerable  otherwise  pro- 
ductive time  might  be  lost,"  It 
sounds  like  hype,  but  the  warn- 
ing is  completely  accurate.  I've 
played  this  game  for  hours  on 
other  computers,  and  now  on 
the  64;  and  on  all  the  ma- 
chines, this  game  is  deadly. 
One  turn  leads  to  another,  then 
to  another,  then  to  another, 
and  so  on  and  so  on  and  so 
on. . . . 

Empire  is  a  strategy  game 
in  which  three  nations  vie  for 
control  of  a  world.  You  play 
one  force,  while  either  the  com- 
puter or  other  players  control 
the  other  two.  You  begin  with 
only  one  army  and  you  can 
see  a  limited  portion  of  the 
land.  As  you  move  around, 
more  o1  the  continent  becomes 
revealed  to  you.  Eventually, 
using  army,  navy,  and  air  force 
movement,  you  learn  the  layout 
of  the  world  and  the  location  of 
the  enemy  nations. 

Many  games  give  lip  ser- 
vice to  the  need  for  combined 
arms,  but  Empire  makes  it 
mandatory.  You  must  build 
transports  if  you  hope  to  con- 
quer anything,  and  these  trans- 
ports need  protection  from 
destroyers  and  aircraft.  In  turn, 
the  transports  are  useless 
without  land  forces  to  carry, 
and  land  forces  need  naval 
bombardment  and  air  strikes  to 
help  them.  Within  minutes  after 
starting,  you'll  be  moving  your 
forces  like  a  veteran.  Within 
half  an  hour,  you'll  be  hope- 
lessly addicted. 

COMPUTE!  Publications 
Features  Editor  Keith  Ferrell 
told  me  he  had  to  remove  the 
MS-DOS  version  of  Empire 
from  his  hard  drive  because  he 
couldn't  stop  playing  it.  All  you 
64/1 28  owners  will  want  to 
make  sure  the  game  stays  in 
another  room,  used  only  as  a 
reward  for  getting  other  work 
done.  As  far  as  Im  concerned. 
Empire  is  the  most  addictive 
computer  game  ever. 
—  Neil  Randali 


Apple  II  educational  software  is 
abundant  these  days,  to  be 
sure,  but  toss  out  the  pre- 
school stuff  and  the  drill-and- 
practice  programs  and  you're 
left  with  much,  much  less  than 
you  expected  when  you 
bought  your  computer. 

That's  why  Davidson's 
new  entry,  l\4ath  Blaster  Mys- 
tery, is  such  a  welcome  addi- 
tion. This  package,  aimed  at 
ages  1 0  and  up,  is  a  departure 
from  the  rote  software  that  Da- 
vidson is  best  known  for. 

The  program  offers  up 
four  activities,  each  of  which 
comes  in  four  progressively 
more  difficult  levels.  The  first 
one.  Follow  the  Steps,  takes 
you  through  the  steps  neces- 
sary to  solve  a  math  word 
problem.  Even  kids  horrified  by 
the  phrase  word  problem  can 
manage  to  find  the  solution 
when  taken  by  the  hand  and 
ted  through  the  problem. 

The  second  activity.  Weigh 
the  Evidence,  tests  your  ability 
to  plan  ahead,  tor  you  have  to 
stack  and  restack  numbered 
blocks  in  numerical  order  on 
scales  to  arrive  at  a  preset 
value.  It  sounds  easy  until  you 
start  shifting  numbers  and  then 
discover  you've  foolishly  made 
the  same  move  three  times  al- 
ready, and  you're  no  closer  to 
the  answer  than  when  you 
started. 

Maf/i  Blaster  Mystery's 
third  activity  is  Decipher  the 
Code,  a  Mastermind-style 
game  where  you  fill  in  the 
blanks  in  an  empty  formula. 
Drop  in  the  right  values  or 
mathematical  symbols,  and 
you'll  have  a  complete  formula. 
Forget  how  to  solve  equations, 
and  you're  in  for  a  long  night. 

The  package's  last  activi- 
ty. Search  for  Clues,  is  an  inter- 
esting (though  ultimately 
feeble)  attempt  to  put  graphics 
to  work  while  you  play  a  guess- 
the-numbers  game.  The  game 
is  great — the  clues  keep  you 
going  but  make  you  work — but 
the  animation  is  bteak  and  the 
graphics  are  really  unneces- 


sary. Still,  they  brighten  the 
screen. 

Math  Blaster  Mystery  has 
all  the  usual  Davidson  touches. 
It  works  on  all  Apple  II  comput- 
ers, supports  the  mouse  (a  ter- 
rific device  for  this  program, 
and  strongly  recommended), 
and  keeps  records  of  all  who 
use  the  software. 

Check  out  Math  Blaster 
Mystery.  It  costs  $49.95  and  is 
published  by  Davidson,  3135 
Kashiwa  Street,  Torrance,  Cali- 
fornia 90505;  (21 3)  534-4070. 


Classic  Crossword 


Some  old  Apple  software  titles 
are  classics,  true  gems  that 
shine  despite  their  age.  One 
such  program  is  Crossword 
Magic.  First  published  in  1 981 , 
and  today  still  available  from 
Mindscape,  Crossword  Magic 
shows  its  age  but  still  does 
the  job. 

Enter  clues  and  their  an- 
swers, and  Crossword  Magic 
builds  the  puzzle.  You  can  play 
the  puzzle  on  the  computer 
after  it's  been  created  or  on  pa- 
per after  it's  been  printed  it  out. 
You  can  restrict  the  size  of  a 
crossword  or  let  it  expand 
automatically  to  fit  the  words 
you  enter. 

Crossword  Magic  puts  to- 
gether impressive  puzzles — fit- 
ting in  words  of  up  to  20 
characters,  offering  several 
useful  options  at  puzzle  print 
time,  and  even  letting  you  edit  a 
completed  puzzle. 

For  a  program  that  solidly 
fills  a  niche,  consider  Cross- 
word Magic.  The  program  sells 
for  $49.95  and  is  published  by 
Mindscape,  3444  Dundee 
Road,  Northbrook,  Illinois 
60062;  (312)  480-7667. 
—  Gregg  Keizer 


One  of  our  editors  recently  re- 
ceived a  call  from  a  worried 
reader  who  was  on  the  verge 
of  buying  an  Amiga  2000  when 


16      COMPUTE 


FEBRUARY       19    90 


he  noticed  the  MS-DOS  em- 
phasis in  COMPUTE!'s  new 
format.  Was  the  Amiga  market 
dying? 

The  answer  is  a  definite 
Wo.  COMPUTE!  has  stepped 
up  its  MS-DOS  coverage  to  re- 
flect changes  in  the  home  com- 
puter market  in  general.  But 
the  Amiga  market  is  still  strong 
and  growing,  and  its  future 
looks  good. 

For  one  thing.  Commo- 
dore is  finally  marketing  the 
Amiga.  By  now,  you've  proba- 
bly seen  the  multipage  ads  in 
Life,  Newsweeii,  and  Time,  or 
the  "Stevie"  commercials. 

Other  good  signs  came 
from  the  November  COMDEX 
show,  where  Commodore  an- 
nounced the  Amiga  2500/30, 
an  enhanced  2500  with  a  25- 
MHz  68030  coprocessor  card. 
The  2500/30  retails  for  $4,699 
and  is  faster  than  Steve  Jobs' 
NeXT  workstation  in  many 
applications. 

With  national  advertisi.ng, 
hot  new  hardware  like  the 
2500/30,  and  pries  cuts  of  10- 
1 5  percent  on  most  of  the 
Amiga  line,  Commodore's  fu- 
ture looks  bright. 


COMAL  Is  Cool 


One  of  my  favorite  computer 
languages  is  now  available  for 
the  Amiga;  COMAL.  You'd 
think  the  last  thing  the  Amiga 
needed  was  another  program- 
ming language,  with  APL, 
ARexx,  Assembly  BASIC, 
BCPL,  C,  C  -  + ,  Draco,  Forth. 
FORTRAN,  ICON,  LISP,  Logo, 
Modula-2,  Pascal,  and  PILOT 
already  available.  But  COMAL 
is  a  unique  language  that  com- 
bines the  ease  of  BASIC  with 
the  structure  of  Pascal. 

COMAL'S  statements  are 
similar  to  those  in  Amiga  Basic, 
but  the  language  also  has  pro- 
cedures, a  CASE  statement, 
and  turtle  graphics  similar  to 
those  found  in  Logo.  While 
AmigaCOMAL  is  an  interpreted 
language,  an  inexpensive  com- 
piler is  available. 

If  you  used  COMAL  on  the 
Commodore  64,  you'll  find  it 
easy  to  port  your  programs  to 
AmigaCOMAL,  since  it  follows 
the  Common  COMAL  stand- 
ard. New  in  AmigaCOMAL  is 
the  ability  to  write  packages 
(collections  of  external  func- 
tions that  you  can  reuse  in  oth- 
er programs)  in  COMAL  itself. 
More  seasoned  Amiga  pro- 
grammers will  be  thrilled  to 
learn  that  COMAL  makes  it 
easy  to  link  in  machine  lan- 
guage and  C  functions. 

If  you're  frustrated  by 
Amiga  Basic,  but  you  can't  see 


getting  into  C,  grab  Amiga- 
COMAL. The  COMAL  interpret- 
er is  available  for  S99.95  plus 
$3.00  shipping,  and  the  add- 
on compiler  and  developer's 
documentation  cost  an  addi- 
tional $34.95.  Or  send  a  self- 
addressed,  stamped  envelope 
with  45  cents  postage  for  a 
booklet  with  more  information 
on  COMAL.  Send  orders  and 
inquiries  to  COMAL  Users 
Group  USA  Limited,  5501  Gro- 
veland  Terrace,  Madison,  Wis- 
consin 53716. 


Faster  Print 


Electronic  Arts  has  finally  re- 
leased an  upgraded  version  of 
DeluxePrint  II  that  supports 
Workbench  1 .3  printer  drivers. 
The  program  hit  the  Amiga 
market  earlier  this  year  with  a 
resounding  thud  when  people 
discovered  it  only  supported 
the  1 .2  drivers. 

The  new  version  also 
adds  support  for  large  font  di- 
rectories. While  DeiuxePrint  II 
1 .1  is  a  solid  performer,  it  still 
has  some  quirky  behaviors, 
such  as  its  insistence  on  hav- 
ing a  floppy  disk  in  DFO:  even  if 
you  started  the  program  from 
your  hard  drive. 

Still,  if  you  want  to  print 
greeting  cards,  banners,  letter- 
heads, or  signs,  you  can't  beat 
DeluxePrint  II,  especially  if  you 
have  a  color  printer,  EA  will 
send  the  1.1  upgrade  free  of 
charge  to  version  1.0  owners 
who  send  tMth  their  art  and 
program  disks  to  P.O.  7578, 
San  Mateo,  California  94403- 
7578.  DeiuxePrint  H  1 .1  retails 
for  S79.95  and  is  available  from 
Electronic  Arts,  1820  Gateway 
Drive,  San  Mateo,  California 
94404;  (800)  245-4525. 


Ami  Tidbits 


Accidentally  delete  your  book 
report?  Can't  remember  where 
you  stored  that  letter  to  Aunt 
Marg?  Or  do  you  just  wish  that 
you  could  access  all  of  your 
programs  from  one  menu? 
Then  check  out  Dunlap  Utili- 
ties, from  Progressive  Peri- 
pherals &  Software.  This 
package  does  everything  from 
salvage  deleted  files  to  dialing 
your  telephone.  Dunlap  Utilities 
(S79.95)  isn't  easy  to  install,  but 
once  it's  set  up,  you'll  never 
wonder  Do  I  have  a  utility  to  do 
that?  again.  For  more  infor- 
mation, contact  Progressive 
Peripherals  &  Software,  464 
Kalamath  Street,  Denver,  Colo- 
rado 80204,  or  call  (303)  825- 
4144. 
—  Denny  Atidn 


CD-ROM  drives  are  expensive, 
sure,  but  the  software  is  so  in- 
teresting and  reasonably 
priced. 

In  just  this  past  year,  The 
Whole  Earth  Catalog  came  out 
on  CD-ROM,  as  did  a  large  col- 
lection of  Voyager's  Neptune 
pictures.  Mediagenic's  the 
Manhole  was  etched  into  this 
high-capacity  media,  as  was  a 
collection  of  Microsoft 
software. 

Now,  KnowledgeSet  has 
released  the  Guinness  Disc  of 
Records.  If  you  like  lists  of  the 
oldest,  the  fastest,  the  largest, 
the  hairiest,  and  so  on,  you'd 
probably  enjoy  the  easy  brows- 
ing and  exhaustive  lists  in  this 
package.  The  disc  retails  for 
S99,  so  it's  not  too  expensive, 
either.  Compare  it  to  software 
packages  in  general  or  to  the 
cost  of  a  software  package 
that  holds  an  equivalent 
amount  of  data,  Either  way  you 
look  at  it,  you  come  out  way 
ahead. 

Does  that  make  CD-ROM 
drives  any  more  worthwhile  for 
home  computer  users?  Only  if 
a  CD-ROM  drive  is  within  your 
budget.  It's  probably  still  not 
something  vital  to  your  home 
computing  projects.  Keep  an 
eye  on  new  releases,  though. 
As  more  software  comes  out 
on  disc,  the  drives  will  probably 
drop  in  price.  And  the  selection 
of  titles  will  probably  be 
wonderful. 


Mac  Revival 


That  old  beige  Macintosh  of 
yours  has  been  whirring  and 
clicking  on  your  desk  for  quite 
a  while  now,  waiting  for  you 
to  upgrade  it  or  donate  it  to 
charity. 

Unless  you  hate  color, 
consider  an  upgrade.  Com- 
puter Care  has  released  Mac 
Rescue,  a  package  that  turns 
Macintosh  128K  and  512K  en- 
hanced units  into  Macintosh 
Pluses.  Included  in  the  upgrade 
is  a  snap-on  daughterboard 


and  an  SCSI  port 

Better  than  that,  the  pack- 
age gives  you  6  SIMM  slots  so 
you  can  upgrade  your  memory 
to  1 , 2, 2,5,  or  4  megabytes  of 
RAM.  The  slots  are  designed 
so  that  you  can  recycle  any 
surplus  SIMMs  you  have  from 
past  upgrades. 

Look  out  System  7.0,  the 
little  beige  Macintosh  is  ready 
for  you. 

The  price  of  the  upgrade 
depends  on  whether  you  have 
the  1 28K  ROMs.  Without  any 
extras,  Mac  Rescue  retails  for 
$317.  If  you  need  the  128K 
ROMs,  you  can  buy  them  from 
Computer  Care  for  $145. 
Added  memory  is  not  included 
in  the  price,  either.  For  more 
information,  contact  Computer 
Care  at  Ford  Centre,  Suite 
1180,  420  North  Fifth  Street, 
MinneapoJis,  Minnesota  55401: 
(800)  950-2273. 


New  Thingz 


Informix  Software  has  upgrad- 
ed Wingz,  last  year's  most 
highly  touted  graphics-oriented 
spreadsheet,  Wingz  1.1  in- 
cludes enhanced  3-D  graphs, 
more  power  in  the  HyperScript 
programming  language,  and  a 
525-page  manual  on  Hyper- 
Script.  If  you  are  a  registered 
Wingz  1.0  owner,  the  upgrade 
is  free,  If  you  haven't  registered 
yet,  you  can  get  a  free  upgrade 
when  you  send  in  your  regis- 
tration card.  Contact  Informix 
at  16011  College  Boulevard. 
Lenexa,  Kansas  66219;  (913) 
599-7100. 

Good  Software  has  ac- 
quired NuPaint,  a  paint  pro- 
gram that  features  high- 
powered  graphics  tools. 
Options  include  Masking  Tape 
for  protecting  areas  from  stray 
paint  marks,  the  Razor  Blade 
and  the  Trowel  for  trimming 
stray  dots,  and  the  Mixing 
Bowl,  which  softens  an  image. 
The  program  retails  for 
$139.95,  and  you  can  contact 
Good  Software  at  13601  Pres- 
ton Road,  Dallas,  Texas  75240; 
(214)239-6085. 

Deluxe  Recorder  is  a  good 
companion  to  Electronic  Arts' 
Deluxe  Music  Construction 
Set.  Deluxe  Recorder  is  a 
home  MIDI-recording  program, 
and  its  recordings  can  be  im- 
ported to  Deluxe  Music  Con- 
struction Set.  You  get  instant 
sheet  music  from  the  keyboard 
very  easily  Priced  competitive- 
ly. Deluxe  Recorder  retails  for 
Si  49.  Contact  Electronic  Arts 
at  1820  Gateway  Drive,  San 
Mateo,  California  94404;  (415) 
571-7171. 
—  Heidi  E.  H.  Aycock  Q 


FEBRUARY       1990 


COMPUTE 


17 


J  ©  A 


F     A  K>  C 


aou  are  the  young  Dauphin,  Charles  VII,  bom  to  be 
king  of  France.  The  year  is  A.D.  1429  and  your 
countT)'  is  torn  by  warfare.  The  hated  English  and 
Burgundians  have  already  occupied  much  of  fair 
France.  But  now  the  tide  is  turning. 

Leading  your  armies  is  Joan,  a  17-year-oid  maiden  from  the 
tiny  \'illage  of  Arc.  A  \'isionar)',  she  is  intense!)'  dedicated  to 
serving  you  in  your  struggle  to  unite  all  of  France. 

Before  victor}'  can  be  yours,  howe\'er,  you  will  face  dozens  of 
crucial  battles  and  decisions,  any  of  which  could  mean  freedom 
for  your  people ...  or  cruel  slaver}'.  You'll  need  the  wisdom  of 
a  king ...  the  valor  of  a  soldier . . .  and  the  spirit  of  a  saint. 

In  this  stirring  adventure,  you  have  the  opportunity  not 
simply  to  reli\'e  history  but  to  rewrite  it! 


X  5  t\'pes  of  realistic  medieval 
action  sequences,  and  you  control 
them  all. 

'f'  73  authentic  provinces  and  towns. 

'if  31  historically  accurate  charac- 
ters, each  with  different  strengths 
and  ^veaknesses. 

4*  Up  to  20  options  on  each  turn. 


ftmHprhiinrl®  caii  (800)  521-6263 

Ul  UUd  UUI  lU      or  see  your  Brelderbund  dealer.       Joan  bravely  rallies  your  armies! 


Fight  English  soldiers  hand-to-hand. 


liui  o*  Ate  1.  •  lra<l«rutk.  •ml  BnArtHIIiJ  l>  •  reil.looj luamuik  oi  Bt»llttbttnil  Srflnur.,  tat  0  OwHl)"  »«» tninimd  Sdnran.  inc. 


15CJA 


N  FOCUS 


KNOWLEDGE  IS  POWER,  OR  SO  FRANCIS  BACON  SAYS,  AND 
POWER  IS  THE  KEY  TO  A  GOOD  COMPUTER  SYSTEM.  SO,  THIS 
MONTH,  WE  OFFER  YOU  KNOWLEDGE  THAT  CAN  TRANSFORM 
YOUR  PC  INTO  A  MORE  POWERFUL  SYSTEM— A  FASTER, 
SMARTER  WORKAHOLIC  WONDER  WITH  PLENTY  OF  CARGO 
SPACE  AND  THE  MUSCLE  TO  DO  WHAT  YOU  NEED  IT  TO  DO. 
FIRST,  TAKE  A  LOOK  AT  OUR  BLUEPRINTS  FOR  A  BUILD-IT- 
YOURSELF  AT  COMPATIBLE  ON  PAGE  20.  THE  ONLY  OTHER 
TOOL  YOU  NEED  IS  A  SCREWDRIVER.  IF  THE  SIGHT  OF  A 
TOOLBOX  MAKES  YOU  QUEASY,  WE  HAVE  THE  CURE  FOR 
YOUR  MALADY  IN  OUR  TREATISE  "UPGRADE  FEVER."  THIS 
PRESCRIPTION  FOR  PC  POWER  STARTS  ON  PAGE  36.  THE 
BURNING  QUESTIONS  IN  1990:  SHOULD  YOU  BUY  AN  8088  OR 
A  386?  HOW  MEGABYTE-MASSIVE  SHOULD  YOUR  HARD  DRIVE 
BE?  AND  WHERE  DOES  MULTIMEDIA  FIT  INTO  THE  HOME 
COMPUTER  SYSTEM?  GET  ADVICE  ON  THESE  ISSUES  FROM  A 
REPORTER  WHO  WATCHES  THE  INDUSTRY  FOR  THE  INSTITUTE  OF 
ELECTRICAL  AND  ELECTRONICS  ENGINEERS;  READ  "MY  VIEW" 
ON  PAGE  32.  BOOT  UP  OUR  FEBRUARY  SHAREPAK  DISK  AND 
IMPROVE  YOUR  COMPUTING 
ENVIRONMENT  WITH  MUCH 
FASTER  KEYBOARD  REPEATS 
AND  VIRUS-FREE  DISKS,  READ 
ABOUT  OUR  LATEST  LIBRARY 
OF  SOFTWARE  TOOLS  ON 
PAGE  34.  "RESOURCES,"  ON 
t  PAGE  44,  DIRECTS  YOU  TO 
MORE  INFORMATION  ABOUT 
YOUR  COMPUTER.  SO,  ROLL 
UP  YOUR  SLEEVES;  WE'RE 
TAKING  A  CLOSER  LOOK  AT 


CflMPITB 


UNVBIHI 


FEBRUARY       1990 


COMPUTEl       19 


FORGET  THE 
AMMETER  AND 
OSCILLOSCOPE, 
DROP  THE 

ELECTRICAL  PROBES 
AND  DREADED 
SOLDERING  GUN. 
TODAY  YOU  CAN 
ASSEMBLE  A 
PROFESSIONAL- 
QUALITY  PC 
WITH  A 
SCREWDRIVER, 


'"-?,  11 


Not  more  than  a  dozen 
years  ago,  if  you  wanted 
a  personal  computer 
there  was  only  one  way 
to  get  it— build  it.  That 
process  required  knowl- 
edge  of  electrical  engi- 
neering and  a  high  level 
of  mechanical  aptitude, 
and  the  resulting  ma- 
chines were  meager  by 
today's  standards. 

Nowadays,  you  can  buy  a  PC  at  al- 
most any  department  store.  But  the  sys- 
tem of  choice  for  the  home  professional 
is  no  longer  the  IBM  PC  or  XT  compat- 
ible (although  these  systems  are  still 
around  and  extremely  reasonable  in 
cost).  The  AT-class  personal  computer 
has  taken  the  lead  as  the  top  MS-DOS 
platform  for  personal  use.  Although 
several  times  more  powerful  than  an 
XT,  the  AT  costs  only  a  few  hundred 
dollars  more. 

What's  more,  assembling  a  com- 
puter is  no  longer  reserved  for  the  tech- 
nological elite.  If  you're  sharp,  you  can 
pick  up  a  manufactured  system  for 
about  the  same  price  as  a  home-built 
computer,  but  you'll  never  gain  the 
experience,  knowledge,  and  confidence 
about  your  system  that  a  computer 
builder  gains.  Think  of  how  your 
friends  will  react  when  you  bring  them 
by  the  house,  point  to  your  new  com- 
puter, and  proudly  say,  "1  built  it  my- 
self." 

Taking  Your  First  Steps 

The  first  step  toward  building  a  com- 
puter is  the  same  one  you  take  when 
buying  one:  Analyze  your  computing 
needs.  What  are  you  going  to  do  with 
your  computer?  Draw  up  a  list  of  the 
software  that  you're  using  or  are  plan- 
ning to  use.  Will  you  be  doing  word 
processing?  Will  you  also  be  doing  ac- 
counting? What  about  graphics  pro- 
grams? Is  there  any  graphic  art  or 
desktop  publishing  in  your  computing 
future? 

It's  a  good  idea  to  check  whether 
your  current  or  proposed  software  re- 
quires any  specific  hardware.  Many 
software  developers  have  moved  to- 
ward the  80286  as  their  minimum 


After  receiving  your  components,  check  them  against  your  order  list  to  make  sure 
you  have  everything  you  need.  Be  sure  to  check  for  damaged  items. 


Begin  by  preparing  the  case.  A  "baby"  AT  case  with  a  flip-open  top  is  easier  to  work 
with  than  the  standard  slide-cover  case. 


hardware  platform.  This  is  especially 
true  for  graphics-intensive  programs, 
like  desktop  publishing  packages,  and  it 
goes  double  for  those  programs  de- 
signed to  run  under  a  graphical  user  in- 


is  another  hardware  option  to  consider. 
You  can  always  add  one  later,  of 
course,  but  it's  more  economical  to 
have  it  from  the  start. 

These  are  all  commonsensical 


terface  like  U'iiidon's.  A  hard  disk  drive       questions,  yet  it's  surprising  how  many 


Z-'ZZTr 


FEBRUARY       1990 


COMPUTE! 


21 


1 


BUIIO  YOUR 
OWN  iff 


first-time  buyers  order  a  computer 
based  on  what  tlieir  friend,  their  sister, 
or  Iheir  co-worker  uses.  The  personal  in 
personal  computer  means  just  that; 
what  works  for  someone  else  may  not 
be  best  for  you. 

After  you've  defined  your  mini- 
mum needs,  you  can  embellish  your 
list.  Think  of  applications  that  you 
want  to  explore  in  a  year  or  two.  Think 
of  hardware  options  that,  although  not 
absolutely  required,  would  be  nice  to 
have. 

From  here,  you  can  rate  your  needs 
and  wants.  Before  talking  to  any  sales- 
person, I  always  categorize  my  list. 
Hardware  items  go  into  one  of  three 
columns:  must  have,  nice  to  have,  and 
luxury.  That,  balanced  against  what 
money  I  have  available,  forms  the  basis 
for  what  I  buy. 

This  project  had  a  cap  of  $  1 .500. 
My  software  requirements  included 
word  processing,  desktop  publishing, 
spreadsheets,  and  database  manage- 
ment, and  the  performance  I  was  seek- 
ing mandated  an  AT  platform.  Based 
on  those  criteria,  my  must-have  list 
included  an  80286  processor,  a  20- 
megabyte  hard  disk,  640K  of  RAM,  a 
monochrome  graphics  adapter  and 
monitor,  a  single  1.2-megabyte  5'/(-inch 
disk  drive,  one  parallel  and  one  serial 
port,  and  a  20G-watt  power  supply. 

In  my  nice-to-have  list,  I  included 
a  40-megabyte  hard  disk,  one  megabyte 
of  RAM,  EGA  graphics,  an  additional 
floppy  drive  (3'/2-inch,  1 .44-megabyte), 
a  101-key  AT-style  keyboard,  a  mouse, 
and  a  printer.  When  I  finished  my  luxu- 
ry list,  I  had  bumped  the  capacity  of  my 
hard  disk  to  80  megabytes;  upgraded 
my  graphics  to  VGA;  added  another 
megabyte  of  RAM,  a  tape  backup  sys- 
tem, dual  parallel  and  serial  ports,  and  a 
scanner/fax  board;  and  went  for  a  tower 
case  rather  than  the  baby  AT  case  I  had 
planned  to  use. 

Buying  Spree 

I  could  have  purchased  any  of  the  items 
on  my  list  from  a  local  computer  dealer, 
but  I  usually  buy  from  one  of  several 
national  distributors  that  specialize  in 
computer  components.  If  you  decide  to 
go  that  route,  browsing  through  almost 
any  computer  magazine  will  reveal  two 
or  three  names. 

Few  dealers  can  beat  the  price  of  a 
mail-order  house.  National  suppliers 
sell  hundreds  or  thousands  of  separate 
peripherals  and  components  each 
month,  while  local  dealers  sell  a  few 
dozen  or  less.  Dealers  are  sometimes 
paying  more  for  an  item  than  mail- 
order houses  are  selling  it  for.  So,  while 
it  never  hurts  to  try  your  local  dealers 


Equipped  with  AMI  BIOS,  this  motherboard  design  allows  for  up  to  four  megabytes  of  RAM. 


Be  sure  to  check  the  motherboard's  fit  after  you  ve  installed  the  standoffs. 


Using  an  insertion  tool,  populate  your  motherboard  with  RAM  chips  before  you  install 
the  board  in  the  case. 


22 


COMPUTE 


FEBRUARY       1990 


first,  you  may  find  the  best  price  by 
mail. 

Another  possible  way  to  save  your- 
self some  money  is  to  inquire  about  the 
availability  of  kits.  A  distributor's  kit, 
containing  all  the  items  required  to 
build  your  PC,  may  match  your  re- 
quirements. Fve  found  that  the  price  of 
kits  are  usually  10  percent  or  more  un- 
der the  price  that  I  would  pay  for  the 
same  items  individually. 

For  this  project,  I  was  able  to  buy  a 
kit  from  a  national  supplier  that  con- 
tained everything  on  my  must-have  list, 
excluding  the  hard  drive,  monitor,  and 
printer.  The  kit  cost  $599.95;  the  hard 
drive  (a  Seagate  20-megabyte  ST225 
with  a  Western  Digital  AT  controller 
card)  cost  $339.95;  a  14-inch,  high- 
resolution  monochrome  monitor  cost 
$  1 1 9.00.  For  the  complete  system,  I 
spent  under  $1,060. 1  had  $440  to  put 
toward  other  options. 

I  could  have  bought  a  less- 
expensive  kit,  but  this  one  included  a 
very  good  12-MHz  motherboard,  AMI 
BIOS  with  setup,  diagnostics,  and  hard 
drive  utilities  installed  in  ROM.  I  also 
got  the  latest  version  of  PC-Write  and  a 
separate  diagnostics  program  called 
QA-Plus.  As  an  added  bonus,  my  kit 
came  with  a  deluxe  101 -key  keyboard 
(one  of  the  items  on  my  nice-to-have 
list.) 

Mail  Call 

When  your  equipment  arrives,  the  first 
thing  you  should  do  is  compare  the  list 
of  what  you  ordered  against  the  ship- 
ping statement.  Make  sure  everything 
matches;  if  there  are  any  discrepancies, 
immediately  call  the  representative 
from  whom  you  ordered.  You  should 
also  check  for  obvious  damage  to  your 
components.  If  all  is  OK,  put  every- 
thing aside  until  you  have  time  to  build 
your  machine  from  start  to  fmish. 

The  time  it  takes  to  assemble  a  per- 
sonal computer  depends  on  your  expe- 
rience and  the  complexity  of  the 
machine.  For  your  first  effort,  figure  on 
one  full  day. 

Getting  It  Together 

Before  you  start  snapping  and  screwing 
parts  together,  prepare  your  work  area. 
Carefully  remove  all  of  the  components 
from  their  individual  boxes.  Most  items 
have  an  antistatic  wrapper.  Leave  the 
wrapper  on  until  you're  ready  to  install 
that  panicular  piece.  Static  electricity  is 
sure  death  to  a  computer  card.  Make 
sure  that  the  humidity  in  your  assembly 
area  is  sufficient  to  eliminate  any  possi- 
ble static  problems.  If  you  have  a  prob- 
lem with  static,  you'll  probably  want  to 
buy  an  antistatic  work  mat.  c- 


After  the  motherboard  is  in  place,  it's  time  to  install  the  power  supply.  Most  power 
supplies  slide  into  position  and  fasten  to  the  rear  of  your  case. 


Your  power  supply  has  two,  six-wire  cables  that  attach  in  tandem  to  the  mother- 
board. Be  careful  to  connect  them  correctly,  or  you'll  fry  the  motherboard. 


After  you've  placed  the  motherboard,  the  next  components  to  go  in  are  the  floppy 
disk  drive,  hard  disk  drive,  and  their  controller  cards. 


FEBRUABY        1990 


C    O    M    P    U    T    E    I 


23 


r^ 


OWN  4/ 


Before  going  any  further,  find  all 
the  documentation  and  instructions 
that  came  with  each  item,  and  read 
everything  before  starting.  (With  my 
kit,  I  received  instructions  on  the  case, 
the  motherboard,  each  peripheral  card, 
the  drives,  the  monitor,  and  general  as- 
sembly.) If  you  follow  the  instructions 
step  by  step,  things  will  go  smoothly;  if 
you  don't,  you'll  be  in  for  a  lot  of  grief 

If  you  didn't  order  a  complete  kit, 
you  may  not  get  step-by-step  assembly 
instructions.  In  this  case,  it's  even  more 
important  that  you  read  and  under- 
stand the  documentation  before  you  be- 
gin. Either  way,  with  a  kit  or  with 
separate  components,  make  sure  to 
puzzle  out  the  exact  steps  and  proce- 
dures you're  going  to  use. 

Oh,  Mother 

Begin  by  preparing  the  case.  Again,  be 
sure  you  follow  the  instructions  to  the 
letter.  If  the  instructions  say  to  remove 
the  cover  or  to  install  the  speaker  first 
or  to  remove  the  drive-bay  cage  before 
you  do  anything  else,  then  do  it. 

After  you've  readied  the  case,  you 
need  to  do  some  preliminary  work  on 
the  motherboard.  Check  to  make  sure 
that  the  holes  in  the  motherboard  line 
up  with  the  standoffs  that  you've  in- 
stalled in  preparing  the  case.  (Standoffs 
support  the  motherboard  and  prevent 
damage.)  Carefully  lower  the  mother- 
board into  position;  it  must  line  up 
with  the  case's  back  plate  and  fasten  to 
the  standoffs  securely.  If  you've  ordered 
both  the  case  and  motherboard  from 
the  same  place,  you  shouldn't  have  a 
problem.  But  if  there  is  a  mismatch, 
you'll  have  to  make  provisions  to  en- 
sure that  the  motherboard  is  seated  se- 
curely into  the  case. 

Before  you  engineer  a  solution  to 
the  mismatch  problem,  be  sure  you  ex- 
amine the  situation  carefully.  If  the 
modifications  can't  be  made  easily, 
either  the  case  or  the  board  will  need  re- 
placing. Phone  your  suppliers  before 
you  go  any  further.  Neither  vendor  is 
going  to  be  happy  if  you  return  the 
equipment  after  an  unsuccessful 
modification. 

.Assuming  that  the  motherboard 
fits,  take  it  back  out  of  the  case.  The 
motherboard  runs  under  a  wide  variety 
of  parameters.  It  must  know  about  your 
computer's  memory  (both  speed  and 
amount),  the  monitor,  the  drives,  the 
math  coprocessor  if  there  is  one,  and 
any  other  options  specific  to  your  sys- 
tem. By  setting  the  DIP  (Dual  Inline 
Package)  switches  and  pin  jumpers,  you 
can  tailor  the  motherboard  to  your  par- 
ticular configuration.  If  you  change  a 
DIP  switch,  never  use  a  pencil  point. 


Most  AT  computers  use  plastic  rails  that  you  attach  to  the  side  of  the  drives.  The 
drives  slide  on  ttiese  rails  into  the  drive  cage. 


Alf ix  the  rails  to  the  sides  of  the  drives  before  you  place  them  in  the  drive  cage. 


Once  you've  placed  the  drives  in  the  cage,  the  entire  assembly  can  be  installed  in 
the  case. 


24 


COMPUTE! 


FEBRUARY        1990 


Not  Military  Not 
Mercenary.  And 
YOU'RE  Definitely 
No  Tourist... 


Soviet  Commander: 
"WHO  ARE  You?" 

RAMBO:  "I'M  YOUR  WORST 
NIGHTMARE." 

Remember  that  line? 
Now  YOU  can  deliver  it 
to  the  enemy — in  per- 
son. Thirty  miles  over 
the  Afghanistan  border,  Soviet  forces  are  tortur 
ing  your  friend  and  mentor,  Colonel  Trautman. 
You're  the  only  man  alive  with  enough  guts, 

Amiga  game  screens. 


Supports 
Ad  Lib  And 
Creative  Music 
Systems  Cardsi 

Now  Available 
For  IBMJandy, 
And  Compatible 
Computers. 


brawn,  and  resource- 
fulness to  single- 
handedly  rescue  the 
man  who  taught 
you  how  to  fight.  Every  Soviet  commando,  tank, 
and  attack  chopper  in  the  sector  is  on  your  tail. 
It's  the  ultimate  contest  for  the  ultimate  fighter. 


//  lakes  more  than  muscle  10  de-activate 
electronic  gates,  cross  treacherous 
minefields,  and  find  the  keys  to  Traiit- 
mati's  cell. 


Ever  fly  one  of  these  things:'  With  the 
enemy  breathing  down  your  back,  that 
Hind  chopper 's  the  best  way  out  of  this 
bell  bole. 

TAITO 


llsjrislyoii  uiisl your  hijacked  tank 
against  anti-tank  missiles  and  chop- 
pers. Sight  in  and  rearrange  that 
balance  of  power! 


If  you  cannot  find  this  product  at  your  local  retailer,  Visa/Mastercard  holders 
can  order  direct  anywhere  in  the  United  States  by  calling  toll-free  1-800-937-001 5. 

Game  Design,  ©  1988  Ocean  Software  Ltd.  RAMBO  is  a  registered  trademark  of  Carolco.  ©  1989  CAROLCO.  Ocean  is  a  trademark  of  Ocean  Software  Limited. 

Taito  is  a  registered  trademark  of  Taito  America  Corporation.  ©1989  Taito  America  Corporation.  AM  rights  reserved. 
Amig3,  IBM,  and  Tandy  are  registered  trademarks  respectively  of  Commodore-Amiga,  Inc,  Imernational  Business  Machines,  Inc.,  and  Tandy  Corporation. 

Circle  Reader  ServicB  Number  140 


BUIID  VDUR 
OWN  iff 


The  graphite  in  pencils  is  death  to  com- 
puter circuitry. 

Take  this  time  to  familiarize  your- 
self with  the  pin  connectors  located  on 
the  motherboard.  These  pin  connectors 
are  what  the  speaker,  turbo  light  and 
switch,  keyboard  lock,  and  reset  button 
plug  into,  so  you'll  want  to  know  their 
whereabouts.  By  the  time  you  get 
around  to  making  these  connections, 
your  view  of  the  motherboard  may  be 
obstructed  by  other  components. 

Now  you're  ready  to  populate  the 
motherboard  with  RAM.  (Always  do 
this  before  you  permanently  install  the 
motherboard  in  the  case.  Otherwise, 
you'll  put  too  much  pressure  on  the 
motherboard.)  Use  caution  when  han- 
dling and  inserting  chips,  because 
DRAM  chips  are  very  susceptible  to 
static  discharge.  Make  sure  that  you 
ground  yourself  and  that  static  electric- 
ity levels  are  acceptable. 

You  can  install  chips  by  hand  or 
with  an  insertion  tool.  I  recommend  a 
chip  insertion  tool,  which  will  cost  you 
under  ten  dollars.  Computer  chips  have 
legs  (pins)  that  slant  outward  from  their 
base.  This  design  stops  chips  from 
working  their  way  out  of  their  sockets, 
which  is  apt  to  happen  from  heat  ex- 
pansion, .An  insertion  tool  gently 
squeezes  the  legs  of  a  chip  into  a  paral- 
lel row,  allowing  easier  insertion  into 
the  socket.  A  chip's  legs  are  fragile;  it's 
easier  to  bend  or  break  a  leg  by  hand 
than  by  using  an  insertion  tool. 

Regardless  of  your  insertion  meth- 
od, it's  easy  to  put  a  chip  in  backward. 
Usually,  there's  a  notch  on  the  socket 
and  a  matching  notch  on  the  chip  to 
help  ensure  correct  chip  orientation. 
Once  you've  installed  them,  check  the 
chips  and  look  for  any  that  are  facing 
the  wrong  way  or  that  are  not  complete- 
ly sealed  in  a  socket. 

Finally,  you're  ready  to  install  the 
motherboard.  Position  it  over  the 
standoffs,  and  make  sure  that  the  bus- 
extension  slots  on  the  board  face  the 
rear  of  the  case.  Adjust  the  board  to 
allow  sufficient  clearance  between  the 
rear  edge  and  the  case.  Extension  cards 
have  a  tongue  on  their  back  plate  that 
slides  between  the  computer  case  and 
the  motherboard.  If  you  don't  allow 
enough  clearance  between  the  case  and 
the  edge  of  the  motherboard,  you'll  dis- 
cover later  on  that  you  have  to  undo 
everyihing  to  adjust  the  board. 

More  Power  to  You 

Your  next  step  is  installing  the  power 
supply.  Most  power  supplies  slide  into 
position  and  fasten  to  the  rear  of  your 
case.  They  have  two,  six-wire  cables 
that  attach  in  tandem  to  the  mother- 


Seat  each  expansion  card  by  (irmty  pressing  it  into  its  slot;  tiien  fasten  thie  the  card's 
bacl(  plate  to  the  case. 


Once  you've  connected  all  ot  the  cables  and  power  leads,  you're  ready  to 
lid  on  your  computer  and  give  it  a  test  run. 


close  the 


Wait  until  you  tell  your  friends,  "I  built  it  myself. 


26       COMPUTE 


FEBRUARY       1990 


Can  You  Kick  The  QIX" 


HE      -COMPUT  B  R    VIRUS- ■   GAME 


When  QIX  fever 
strikes,  there  is  no 
cure!  Like  the  mind- 
blowing  arcade 
original,  QIX  is  a 
computer  virus  that 
lives  deep  inside  your  computer,  attacking  without  warning.  Construct  a 
trap  in  any  one  of  the  billions  of  configurations  possible  to  immobilize  QIX. 
But  watch  out  for  SPARX™  and  SPRlTZ™and  other  deadly  energy  forms!  In 
this  electrical  world  of  high-tech  infections,  mental  dexterity  and  superior 
strategy  are  basic  to  survival.  The  practice  mode  turns  beginners  into 
addicts.  No  one  is  immune!  Get  your  QIX  before  QIX  gets  you! 


TIITO 


Now  Available 

FORlBMjANDY, 

And  Compatible 
Computers. 


Actual  Atari  screen. 


Actual  C/64  screen. 


Actual  Amiga  screen. 


If  you  cannot  find  tliis  product  at  your  loca]  retailer,  Visa/Mastercard  holders  can 
order  direct  anywhere  in  the  United  States  bv  calling  toll  free  1-800-663-8067. 

ienUx  Number  129 

Taito,®  Qix,"  SPARX  ™  and  SPRITZ,™  are  trademarks  of  Talto  America  Corporation, 

Copyright  ©1989.  All  rights  reserved.  Atari,  Commodore,  Amiga,  IBM,  and  Tandy  are  registered  trademarlcs  respectively  of  Atari  Corporation, 

Commodore  Electronics,  Inc,  Commodore-Amiga,  Inc.,  International  Business  Machines,  Inc.  and  Tandy  Corporation. 


BUILD  YOUR 

mHai 

board.  Make  sure  that  you  connect 
these  correctly;  if  they're  wrong,  your 
motherboard  will  fry  the  first  time  you 
turn  on  your  PC. 

After  you've  placed  the  power  sup- 
ply, but  before  you  install  any  extension 
cards,  locate  the  motherboard's  pin 
connectors  you  found  earher  and  attach 
the  wires  from  the  case.  Also,  if  your 
PC  has  a  separate  batter>'  source  to 
maintain  the  board's  clock/calendar 
function,  attach  the  batter>'  leads  and 
fasten  the  holder  to  the  case. 

Now  you  can  install  the  drives. 
Most  ATs  use  plastic  rails  that  are  at- 
tached to  the  side  of  the  drives.  The 
drives  slide  on  these  rails  into  the  drive 
cage.  Some  computer  cases  may  require 
that  you  first  remove  the  drive-bay 
cage,  install  the  drives  into  the  cage, 
and  then  remount  the  entire  assembly. 
Once  you've  installed  the  drives,  con- 
nect the  power  cables  from  the  power 
supply.  Make  sure  that  you  attach  a 
separate  grounding  cable  to  each  drive. 

Your  expansion  cards  come  next. 
Before  installing  them,  review  the  docu- 
mentation on  each  card.  You'll  proba- 
bly need  to  set  each  card's  DIP  switches 
and  jumpers  before  you  install  it.  With 
cards  that  have  cables,  such  as  the  flop- 
py and  hard  drive  controller,  you  may 
find  it  easier  to  attach  the  cables  before 
you  install  the  card.  Seat  each  card  by 
firmly  pressing  it  into  its  expansion 
slot;  then  fasten  the  the  card's  back 
plate  to  the  case. 

Finally,  connect  the  cables  from 
the  controller  card  to  the  drives,  and 
then  connect  any  remaining  cables,  in- 
stall the  clock/calendar  batteries  (if  re- 
quired), and  check  over  your  work. 
That's  it.  You're  temporarily  finished 
with  the  inside  and  are  ready  to  power 
up  your  creation. 

The  Case  Is  Closed 

Close  the  computer's  case  (or  slide  the 
case's  cover  back  on),  plug  in  the  pow- 
er-supply cord,  the  monitor,  and  the 
keyboard;  then  insert  your  DOS  disk 
into  Drive  .A.  Because  ATs  store  their 
setup  information  in  the  CMOS  (Com- 
plimenlan,'  Metallic-Oxide  Conductor), 
when  the  computer  boots  up  for  the 
first  time,  that  information  won't  be 
correct.  Some  motherboards  come  with 
a  setup  program  burned  into  ROM; 
others  require  a  setup  disk.  In  either 
case,  after  you  supply  the  right  infor- 
mation regarding  drives,  memory, 
monitor,  and  other  peripherals  to 
CMOS,  you'll  have  to  reboot  your  PC. 
On  the  second  boot,  you'll  want  to 
do  a  low-level  format  on  your  hard 
drive  before  you  go  any  further.  When 
you've  finished  with  that,  reboot  again; 


you  should  see  the  familiar  time-and- 
datc  prompt. 

Congratulations — you're  done 
with  the  basic  assembly.  If  you've  en- 
countered problems,  now  you  can  start 
debugging  them.  If  your  system  fails  to 
boot,  remove  or  open  the  cover  and 
check  all  of  the  cables.  If  your  PC  failed 
to  recognize  the  A  drive,  make  sure  that 
you  have  installed  the  correct  cable 
connector  to  the  drive.  If  the  system 
fails  to  recognize  the  hard  drive,  re- 
member that  you  must  perform  a  rep,u- 
lar  format  after  performing  a  low-level 
format.  Most  kits  include  a  trouble- 
shooting guide.  If  you  have  one,  com- 
pare the  message  that  you  receive 
during  boot-up  with  the  error  messages 
in  the  manual  and  follow  any  corrective 
steps  recommended. 

If  after  these  steps,  you're  still  sty- 
mied, call  the  supplier.  A  quick  call  to 
technical  service  can  probably  help  you 
clear  up  your  problem. 


There  are  just  two  more  steps  to 
follow  in  completing  your  project. 
Every  component  you've  installed  in 
your  computer  has  a  specific  and 
unique  address  and  interrupt.  You  can 
get  this  information  from  the  documen- 
tation. Write  down  the  final  addresses 
and  interrupts  used  on  a  piece  of  mask- 
ing tape,  and  stick  this  list  to  your  pow- 
er supply.  Later,  when  you  install 
another  device  or  card,  you'll  have  a  list 
of  what  interrupts  and  addresses  are  al- 
ready in  use.  Finally,  if  you  weren't  tidy 
when  you  attached  the  drive  cables  and 
the  inside  of  your  box  resembles  a  bowl 
of  spaghetti,  take  a  few  minutes  to  repo- 
sition the  cables. 

Bonus  Round 

You're  now  the  proud  owner  of  a  super 
home-brewed  personal  computer. 
You've  built  an  AT-class  machine  that 
rivals  many  commercially  available 
models.  The  computer  that  I  put  to- 


A  WORD  TO  THE  WISE 

You  don't  need  a  degree  in  electrical  engineering  to  build  a  computer,  but  it  pays  to  be 
familiar  with  tfie  language.  This  glossary  explains  some  of  the  terms  that  you're  likely  to 
encounter  dunng  your  construction  project. 

address.  The  tag  (or  name)  of  a  particular  storage  location.  Addresses  are  used  by  a 
computer  in  the  same  fashion  that  people  use  street  addresses  to  find  businesses  or 
houses. 

AT.  A  personal  computer  based  on  an  Intel  80286  CPU.  This  computer  architecture 
was  released  by  IBM  in  1986  as  the  IBf^rt  PC  AT.  The  AT  has  a  16-bit  CPU  and  a  16-bit 
data  path. 

BIOS  (Basic  Input/Output  System).  ROfw!  chip(s)  containing  the  instruction  set  for  data 
flow  and  interfacing  all  devices  such  as  keyboard,  drives,  and  monitor. 

bus.  Ttie  channel  or  path  designed  for  flow  of  the  computer's  information  stream. 

bus  slots.  (Also  called  extension-card  slots.)  Provided  for  extension  cards  that  need  to 
be  plugged  into  the  computer's  bus.  Bus  slots  are  located  on  the  motherboard. 

CMOS  (Complimentary  Metallic-Oxide  Semiconductor).  Used  on  AT  computers  to  store 
system  information  needed  during  boot-up — for  example,  tfie  type  and  quantity  of 
drives,  the  amount  of  RAf*^.  and  ttie  current  time  and  date. 

CPU  (Central  Processing  Unit).  The  heart  and  soul  of  a  computer.  The  CPU  ointains  an 
arithmetic  logic  and  a  control  unit. 

DIP  switch  (Dual  Inline  Package  switch).  Used  to  change  the  computer's  bus  or  an  ex- 
tension card's  logic  or  data  flow.  DIPs  are  set  to  on  or  off. 

extension  card.  (Also  called  device  driver  card,  controller  card,  peripheral  card,  or  in- 
terface card.)  Separate  circuit  cards  that  are  used  to  link  peripheral  devices  with  circuits 
or  devices  on  the  motherboard. 

interrupt.  A  signal  or  message  given  to  the  computer  that  a  device  or  address  location 
needs  attention.  The  computer  stops  (interrupts)  whatever  program  it  is  running,  re- 
sponds to  the  signal,  and  then  returns  to  its  previous  program  or  functions. 

jumper.  A  small  connector  used  to  join  two  circuit  pins.  Depending  on  the  setting,  (on, 
oft,  open,  or  closed),  the  computer  bus  or  an  extension  card's  circuitry  and  logic  are 
changed. 

motherboard.  (Also  called  a  systems  board  or  a  planer  board,]  The  main  circuit  board. 
All  circuitry  is  either  on  or  attached  to  this  board. 

OEM  (Original  Equipment  Manufacturer).  The  actual  manufacturer  of  a  computer,  as 
opposed  to  the  company  that  sells  it. 

RAM  (Random  Access  Memory).  Tliat  part  of  a  computer's  memory  where  information 
is  stored  and  obtained  through  specific  addresses. 

ROM  (Read  Only  Memory).  Computer  memory  whose  content  isn't  alterable  by 
instructions. 

standoff.  A  small  metal  or  plastic  riser  used  to  keep  the  mothertxiard  from  touching  the 
computer  case. 


28 


C    O    M    P    U    T    E    I 


FEBRUARY       1990 


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BUIID  YOUR 
Iff 


gether  for  this  article  has  a  Landmark 
Speed  rating  of  1 5.6  and  a  Norton  SI 
rating  of  1 3.4.  The  hard  disk  rating  was 
1.9  with  total  performance  coming  in  at 
9.5 — not  loo  shabby. 

I  still  had  over  $400  left  out  of  my 
$1,500.  so  I  looked  around  for  ways  to 
augment  my  new  computer  system.  I 
dropped  $165  on  a  Star  Micronics 
NX  1000  printer;  another  $89  went  to- 
ward a  mouse  (which  was  bundled  with 
a  paint  program);  I  added  a  3 '/'-inch, 
1.44-megabyte  floppy  drive  for  another 
$120;  and,  for  about  $28. 1  asked  my 
supplier  to  substitute  a  tower  case  for 
the  case  that  came  with  the  kit.  The  to- 
tal cost  then  came  to  $  1,460.  That  left 
just  enough  for  paper,  a  printer  stand, 
and  a  printer  cable. 

I  would  have  liked  more  memory. 
Memory  chips  have  fallen  dramatically 
in  price  during  the  last  year.  You  can 
buy  a  megabyte  of  R.A.M  for  under 
$140.  But,  figuring  that  memory  prices 
will  continue  to  fall,  I  decided  that  if  fu- 
ture applications  required  more  memo- 
ry, I  could  always  add  it. 

Know  It  All 

By  building  your  own  computer,  you 
gain  the  knowledge  and  skill  required  to 
modify  or  upgrade  your  computer  as 
your  needs  change.  Installing  a  VGA 
card,  a  modem,  or  another  floppy  disk 
drive  won't  throw  you  into  a  panic. 
You'll  also  discover  that  you've  gained 
a  better  understanding  of  the  funda- 
mentals required  to  diagnose  any  prob- 
lems that  may  crop  up.  If  your  hard 
drive  fails,  for  example,  you'll  know 
how  to  check  both  the  disk  and  the  con- 
troller. If  a  video  card  flakes,  no  prob- 
lem. You  say  you  have  a  parity  error? 
Just  check  the  RAM  chips,  find  the  cul- 
prit, and  replace  it. 

Almost  anyone  can  build  a  com- 
puter these  days,  given  the  inclination 
and  the  patience  to  carr>'  the  job 
through.  If  you  can  analyze  your  needs, 
translate  that  analysis  into  a  priority 
list,  read  and  follow  instructions,  and 
identify  the  business  end  of  a  screw- 
driver, then  you  should  be  all  right. 
You  may  not  save  a  lot  of  money,  but 
the  experience  is  worth  the  effort.  Good 
luck,  and  good  building!  q 


This  article  is  a  generic  guide  lo  assem- 
bling a  personal  computer.  The  author 
makes  no  claims  as  to  the  article's  valid- 
ity or  accuracy  regarding  any  specific 
computer  assembly  kit  or  computer 
configuration. 


Bruce  W.  Haase  is  a  writer  and  computer 
consultant  in  Muskegon,  Michigan,  where  he 
teaches  a  local  seminar  in  personal  computer 
building. 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  GAME 
THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  GAME 


GUARANTIID  NOND£NOMIN^IONAL 
3  Game  Levels  make  learning  Fun  for  all  ages! 


CO 


11  fm  f  iff  1 

iiiiii  f  ii 

Nearly  300  Bible  Passages  per  game 

LiiFilLi  [ElNMlIclHfllN):Gi 


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30 


COMPUTEI  FEBRUARY        1990 


Journey  into  the  past  and  explore  the  fascinating  culture,  the  diverse  personalities,  and  the  intriguing  events 
otthe  ancient  Orient.  Recruited  by  Moebius  the  WINDWALKER,  you  begin  as  a  lowly  fisherman,  but  soon 
rise  to  the  heights  of  wisdom  and  mastery  of  the  martial  arts.  Possessing  the  discipline  of  a  leader  and 
the  spirit  of  an  adventurer,  you've  dedicated  your  life  to  the  pursuit  of  virtue. 


1 


-^O 


III 
III) 
nil 

nil 

Hill 

m- 

iiii 

nil- 

IBM/COMPATIBLE  VERSION 


IB^(/COMPATIBLE  VERSION 


APPLE  VERSION 


^issUKILriJy 

We  create  woridST 


mm^mmm 


AvailaWs  for:  IBM/Tandy/conpatbfes,  C-64/128.  Apple  !l  series ;  cxxm^  soon  lor:  Amiga  and  M  acimosh.  Adual  screens  may  vary, 

Cant  find  WINDWALKER  st  your  kcal  retailer?  Call  1-800-993-4939  (Sam  to  5f  m  EST)  tor  VisaA^C  orders; «  mail  check  of  money  order  (U,S4}to  ORiaN. 

Ail  versions  $3955;  shying  is  FREE  via  UPS.  Allow  1-2  weeks  for  delivery.  ORKSiN,  P.O,  Box  1 61750,  Austin,  Texas  78716. 

circle  Roader  Service  Number  1S6 


MY  VIE 


JOHN 


VOELCKEB 


PUZZLING  OVER 


CHIP 

IS  BEST  AND 
WHAT'S  NEXT 


For  me,  the  worst  part 
about  buying  a  PC  is  the 
knowledge  that  as  soon  as 
I  get  it  home,  unwrapped, 
set  up,  and  ready  to  go, 
I'm  staring  at  an  obsolete 
piece  of  equipment. 
No  matter  what  you 
buy,  or  when,  the  PC 
world  moves  so  fast  that 
your  purchases  are  super- 
seded almost  monthly.  Maybe  your 
office  bought  you  a  386  machine. 
Great!  Now,  it's  time  to  tell  your  boss 
that  the  486  boxes  are  even  faster. 

On  the  home  computing  front, 
the  pace  is  less  frenetic.  Still,  it  helps 
to  know  what's  coming  up,  so  you  can 
balance  lower  cost  against  equipment 
that  stays  modern  longer. 

This  year,  your  big  choice  is  be- 
tween the  285-  and  the  386SX-based 
machines.  Intel  makes  both  chips,  but 
the  company  has  a  hammerlock  on 
the  386SX  (several  other  companies 
make  286s).  Intel  wants  you  to  move 
up  to  a  386SX-based  PC  and  has 
spent  a  lot  of  advertising  money  to  tell 
you  that. 

Right  now,  the  cost  difference  be- 
tween a  286-based  PC  and  a  386SX- 
based  PC  is  about  $500— a  lot  of 
money  for  a  home  user.  And  both 
classes  of  PC  will  get  cheaper. 

There's  no  doubt  that  both  ma- 


chines perform  the  basics  quite  ade- 
quately— word  processing,  graphics, 
spreadsheets,  and  so  on.  The  386SX 
may  be  faster  for  some  functions.  Its 
main  advantage,  though,  will  come  a 
few  years  down  the  road:  386SX  ma- 
chines will  run  operating  systems 
written  specially  for  the  386,  while 
older  AT-class  machines  never  will. 

Does  this  matter?  Sure — if  you're 
planning  to  keep  your  PC  for  at  least 
five  years.  By  that  time,  the  386  ver- 
sion of  OS/2  should  have  been  around 
for  a  while.  (It  hasn't  even  been  intro- 
duced yet.)  Plenty  of  software  will  run 
with  it,  and  memory  should  be  cheap 
enough  that  you'll  be  able  to  afford 
the  8  or  1 6  megabytes  it  requires. 

But  what  if  you're  just  starting  or 
you  think  you'll  be  switching  up  with- 
in a  couple  of  years?  I'd  say — some- 
what hesitantly — not  to  worry  about 
the  386SX.  Bank  that  $500  instead, 
and  plan  to  put  it  toward  your  next 
PC,  in  1992  or  1993. 

Notice  I  didn't  even  mention 
8088  machines.  They're  classics;  they 
made  the  PC  market  what  it  is  today, 
just  like  the  Model-T  did  for  cars.  Un- 
fortunately, their  performance  is  start- 
ing to  look  like  the  Model-T's  as  well. 
Too  many  of  my  friends  have  been 
aggravating  their  ulcers  by  slewing 
while  their  spreadsheets  recalculate  on 
their  old  PC  XTs. 

Unless  you're  so  strapped  for 
money  that  you  must  have  a  PC  and 
printer  for  well  under  S 1 ,000,  a  286 
has  to  be  your  minimum.  If  cash  is  a 
problem,  maybe  you  should  look  for  a 
used  PC  AT,  With  even  introductory 
software  getting  larger  and  demanding 
more  memory  and  more  processing 
power,  it  just  doesn't  make  sense  to 
saddle  yourself  with  an  8088. 

For  1990,  a  hard  disk  goes  almost 
without  saying.  Sure,  you  can  get 
twin-floppy  machines.  But  why?  The 
more  appropriate  issue  is  how  big 
your  hard  disk  should  be.  Should  you 
go  for  20  megabytes?  Or  40  mega- 
bytes? More?  This  year  we  should  see 
the  bigger  disks — up  to  85  mega- 
bytes— get  cheaper,  but  I  wonder  how 
much  cheaper  they'll  get.  I'm  happy  to 


stick  with  30-  or  40-megabyte  drives. 

What  about  laptops?  I  love  them, 
but  you  should  think  very  carefully 
about  whether  you  want  to  pay  that 
much  extra  for  portability.  Having 
said  that,  though,  laptops  are  getting 
steadily  better,  and  if  you  need  porta- 
bility, 1990  may  be  the  year  that  you 
can  justify  buying  one. 

Some  of  the  newest  laptops  can 
run  four  hours  or  more  between  re- 
charges, because  of  cleverly  designed 
low-power  circuitry.  Backlit  super- 
twist  LCD  screens  have  expanded  the 
range  of  lighting  conditions  in  which 
you  can  use  laptops.  They're  still  not 
as  good  as  a  conventional  monitor, 
but  you're  not  as  likely  to  get  eyestrain 
headaches  as  you  used  to  be. 

This  year's  buzzword  is  mulli- 
media.  Simply,  multimedia  integrates 
PCs  with  video,  audio,  storage  CDs, 
hypermedia,  and  a  host  of  other  really 
whizzy  hardware  that  we  haven't  in- 
vented yet. 

A  few  multimedia-like  products 
have  appeared,  but  it's  still  largely  a 
nascent  field.  As  usual,  Apple  seems 
to  be  the  farthest  ahead.  Look  at  the 
video  called  "Knowledge  Navigator," 
and  you'll  see  what  multimedia  offers 
us  in  the  future.  You'll  go  home  com- 
pletely dissatisfied  with  your  own  PC, 
but  the  video  gives  one  company's  vi- 
sion of  what  PCs  (or,  more  likely, 
Macs)  will  be  able  to  do  with  multi- 
media five  or  ten  years  hence. 

By  then,  who  knows  what  the  hot 
chip  will  be,  what  size  the  typical  hard 
disk  is,  and  what  laptops  will  cost? 
We'll  probably  find  that  the  promise 
of  multimedia  was  only  partially  real- 
ized and  that  new 
promises  will  be 
made.  It's  still 
neat  to  dream. 

John  Voelcker 

writes  about  tech- 
nology, the  auto 
industry,  and  the 
arts  from  New 
York  City  mostly 
on  an  Apple 
pnoto  by  Kef n  Macintosh.         Q 


32       COMPUTE! 


FEBRUARY       1990 


LUCASFILM  ON  THE  ART  AND  SciTNC  EOF  ENTERTAINMENT 


Are  You  ReadTTo  Step 
Into  Indy's  Shoes? 


Move  largcr-than-iife  exploits  from  the 
movie  screen  to  the  computer  screen,  and  the 
results  are  often  small  potatoes. 

Not  so  with  Indiana  Jones  and  the  Las! 
Crusade."  Games  that  capture  the 

/action,  excitement,  and  special 
y  eifects  of  the  greatest 

z'  /m/v  movie  of 

them  all.  And 
My  the  game 
character  has  all 
thest)'le.  wit,  and 
resourcefulness  that 
make  the  big  lug  so 
lovable  in  the  movie. 


Too  much  for 
one  game. 

One  game  cant  do  Indy 
justice.  So  we  designed  two  very 
diflcrent  game  experiences: 
Indy  she  Avuon  Game-, 
and  Indy  ilie  Graphic 
Adventure. 

And  in  both 
cases,  it  seems  that 


Nazi  Germany  ha.s  just  declared  war  on  the 
Jones  boys. 

Red  hot,  slam-bam  action. 

Indy  die  Action  Game  delivers  cla.ssic 
arcade  thrills  on  a  hell-bent  chase  for  the  great 
est  treasure  in  history— the  Holy  Grail.  As 
Indy.  you'll  use  your  whip,  your  fists,  and 
your  wits,  Escaping  grave-robbing  cutthroats. 
Pulverizing  Gestapo  goons.  And  surviving 
the  lethal  trials  of  the  Grail  Temple  itself 

How's  your  I.Q.? 

In  Indy  the  Graphic 
Adventure,  you'll  find  out 
if  you  can  keep  up  with  the 
guy  with  the  whip  and  the 
hat.  Maybe  you'll  make  the 
same  decisions  Indy  made 
in  the  movie.  Or  score 
higher  I.Q.  (Indy  Quotient) 
points  by  finding  subtle  or 
ingenious  alternatives.  All 
the  while  exploring  a  stun- 
ning world  of  sights, 
sotinds  and  characters— 


mairy  of  which  you  didn't  see  in  the  film. 

Use  Lucasfilm's  acclaimed— and 
enhanced— point  n'  click  interface  lo  toss  off  a 
sarcastic  one-liner,  sweet  talk  your  way  out  of 
a  tight  squeeze,  or  just  haul  off  and  slug  the 
sucker.  And  thumb  through  Henry  Jones' 


Kmickina  Nazis  off  precarious 
Zeppelin  catwallis  is  till  in  a  day's 
work  in  Indy  the  Action  Game. 


r/tf  tniH  lo  till'  Gntil  is  .^r/rttvi  ivifh 

run  skeh'tii'l.K.  iindmiwlt.  much  worse 

in  Indy  the  Graphic  Adventure. 

64-pagc  Grail  Diary  for  precious  and  fasci- 
nating dues. 

We  made  a  spectacle  of  ourselves. 

Both  games  bring  you  the  great  graphics, 
exciting  camera  angles,  and  stirring  sound 
tracks  that  made  the  Indiana  Jones  film.s 
so  special. 

Of  course,  our  development  team  had 
the  advantage  of  working  with  the  people  who 
made  the  movie.  And  that's  how  we  made  sure 
that  when  you  step  into  Indy's  shoes,  your  feet 
are  planted  firmly  in  the  fire. 

lUCASFILM 


Aciioii  |[«mr  mailable  for  Commodore  M.  I BM.  Atari  ST  xail  AraiRi.  (Inpliic  Ail>cn[iurr  aiailiblt  Mf  IBM  tinditdf*  Adl.ib" 
tuvEid  Citd  mupporO^  rVtDl;;3,  jnd  Atari  ST. 

TM  »nd  ^  1989  lucaidim  [.Id.  All  rlf;hi«  re»rved.  LucasMlm  Carnc^.  tnd).  ind  Indiana  Junes  and  the  l.ii^t  Cruude  irr 
liademurks  uf  l.ucasniin  Lid.  IBM  i$  a  Iradrinaik  urinttmalional  BlsIhcs^  Macbines,  Inc.  Commodore  6J  is  a  Iradf  miirk  uf 
ConiinodorcKltctronirs.  Ltd.  Amiga  is  a  Irademart  of  CommodoreWmiga  let.  AiariandSTarc  traderaaiksof  Atari  Corp. 
AdLib  ii  3  lr»df  mark  of  AdLib,  Inc. 

Circte  Reader  Service  Number  1fiG 


COMPUTE!'s  SHAREPAK 

for  IBM  PC  and  Compatibles 


Compiled  by  the  Editors 


Get  top-quality  software — handpicked  from  the  best  of  shareware — and  all  the  documentation  you  need  on  one 
easy-to-use  disk.  You  pay  just  one  low  price  for  the  complete  package  and  sample  some  of  the  best  noncommer- 
cial software  available. 

COMPUTEI's  February  disk  offers  four  utilities  to  keep  your  hardware  in  shape:  virus  protection  for  your  hard 
drive,  a  repeat-rate  accelerator,  a  graphics  viewer,  and  a  hard  disk  speed  booster. 


Shareware  PC-KWiK 

Speed  up  your  hard  disk  access  with  this  shareware  version  of  Multi- 
soft's  PC-KWIK.  Frequently  used  files  stay  in  memory,  waiting  10  be 
read  in  an  instant.  The  program  is  transparent,  so  new  users  will  feel  as 
comfortable  with  it  as  old  hands  do.  Requires  256K  and  DOS  3.3  or 
higher. 


CompuShow 

Looking  for  a  quick  way  to  view  all  those  nifty  online  pictures? 
CompuShoK  lets  you  view  any  GIF  picture  on  your  PC — in  Hercules. 
CGA,  EGA,  or  even  VGA  mode.  Pick  any  picture;  CompuShow  converts 
it  to  your  graphics  adapter.  Sample  graphics  files  arc  included.  Requires 
256K  and  DOS  2.1  or  higher. 


Flu  Shot 

Ward  off  computer  viruses  with  Flu  Shoi.  Quickly  check  your  hard  drive 
for  uninvited  code  or  add  a  line  to  your  AUTOEXEC  file  for  protected 
boots.  Suspected  viruses  will  be  reported  when  you  boot,  and,  while  the 
program  is  running,  any  changes  in  key  files  will  Ik  flagged.  Requires 
256K.  and  DOS  2. 1  or  higher. 


Fastbuffer 

Tired  of  waiting  on  slow  key-rcpcai  rates?  Speed  them  up  with 
faslbuffir,  Save  your  monitor  from  burnout  with  the  blank-mode  option 
that's  aiso  included.  You  can  disable  this  memory-resident  program  at 
any  time.  Source  code  is  included.  Requires  I28K.  and  DOS  2.1  or 
higher. 


YESI  Send  me  the  February:  1990  COMPUTE!  SHAREPAK  for  my  IBM  PC  or  compatible. 
I  pay  S7.95  for  each  S'/i-inch  disk  and  $8.95  for  each  SVi-inch  disk  plus  $2.00  shipping  and 
handling  per  disk. 


Please  indicate  how  many  disks  of  each  format  you'd  like: 
5'A-inch  disk         3'/2-inch  disk 

Name 

Address 

City 


,  Staie/Province. 


Zip/Postal  Code„ 


Shipping  and  handling  S2.00  per  disk 
Total  amount  enclosed  S 


Mail  coupon  with  payment  to 

COMPUTEI's  SHAREPAK 
P.O.  Box  5188 
Greensboro,  NC  27403 

Residents  of  New  Yory,  Peflnsylvflnia.  and  North  Carolina  add  appopnate  safes  tax  for  your  state,  AH  ofdefs  must  be  paid  in  U.S.  fiinds  drawn  on  a 
U.S.  tw*.  MaslfirCartJ  or  VISA  accepted  lor  oroen  over  S20.X.  Please  aaow  4-6  i«e)(s  fey  delwery  For  delivery  outside  the  U.S.  or  Canada,  add 
Sli)0  for  strface  m0  or  £3.00  lor  alntiail.  Ofler  expiree  April  23. 1990. 


Available  on  S'/j-inch  disk  for  S7,95  or  3'/;-inch 
disk  for  S8.95  (plus  $2.00  shipping  and  handling 
pi.T  disk). 

Disks  available  only  for  IBM  PC  and  compat- 
ible computers.  OfTcr  good  while  supplies  last. 

Shareware  Agreements 

COMPUTE!s  SHAREPAK  is  a  collection  of 
shareware  and  public  domain  programs.  Public 
domain  programs  are  free;  you  can  use  them  and 
pass  them  around  as  much  as  you  like.  On  the 
other  hand,  shareware  isn'l  free;  you  pay  the 
shareware  author  if  you  decide  to  use  the  pro- 
gram. Here's  how  shareware  works. 

If  you  like  a  program  on  the  disk,  you  should 
register  voursclf  directlv  with  the  shareware  pub- 
lisher (not  with  COMPUTE!).  Each  program  in- 
cludes a  license  agreement  that  explains  whom  to 
contact  and  how  much  the  program  costs.  Share- 
ware prices  arc  very  low  compared  with  similar 
commercial  programs. 

Registering  means  you  pay  the  software  au- 
thor for  a  program  he  or  she  developed,  plus  it 
entitles  you  to  technical  suppon  and  information 
about  upgrades.  You'll  find  shareware  publishers 
are  easy  to  work  with  and  eager  to  help. 


There's  nothing  newabout  having  everything 
1'  you  need  inoneplace. 


SffflJit^V  J'^-"~-  ^^^ 


WithGjmpuServe,  It's  allatyour  fingertips. 


When  you  become  a  member  of 
CompuServe,  you  join  a  vital, 
active  community  of  over  500,000 
friends  and  neighbors  from  all  over 
the  world. 

Small-town  friendly  We 
keep  in  touch  with  electronic  mail 
and  faxes,  and  by  posting  messages 
on  our  bulletin  boards.  We  even  m^t 
in  forums  to  discuss  everything 
from  science  fiction  to  sharing 
software,  and  to  get  invaluable 
personal  computer  software 
and  hardware  support.  And  that's  ', 
one  of  the  best  things  about  small 
towns;  people  helping  people. 

Big-dty  opportunities.  But 
we  can  also  shop  coast-to-coast 
at  hundreds  of  nationally  known 
stores,  and  take  advantage  of  a 
world-class  library  We  have   • 


access  to  the  latest  ' 
national  and  interna- 
tional news.  And  our 
special  financial  files 
offer  complete  statistics 
on  over  10,000 
NYSE, 


AMEX,  and  OTC  securities. 

We  can  even  trade  online  with 
our  local  discount  brokers. 

And,  just  for  fun .  . .  We've 
also  got  games  —  everything  from 
trivia  to  TV-style  game  shows  with 


live  entertainment  to  interactive 
space  and  fantasy  adventures. 

We've  got  airline  schedules, 
so  you  can  check  out  the  bargains 
and  book  your  own  flights  online. 
We  even  have  listings  from  over 
35,000  hotels, 

It's  not  hard  to  get  here.  To 
get  to  CompuServe,  all  you  need 
is  a  computer  and  a  modem.  We  11 
send  you  everything  else,  includ- 
ing a  $25.00  Usage  Credit.  In  most 
places  you'll  be  able  to  go  online 
with  a  local  phone  call. 

To  buy  a  CompuServe  Mem- 
bership Kit,  see  your  nearest 
computer  dealer  To  receive  our 
informative  brochure  or  to  order 
direct,  call  800  848-8199, 

CompuServe 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  193 


i 


\ 


WHEN  UPGRADE 
FEVER  HITS.  HEAL 
THYSELF 


You  may  be  getting  along  fine 
with  your  old  PC,  but  there 
are  always  easier,  better,  and 
more  efficient  ways  of  doing 
things.  Your  old  PC  may  take 
a  half-hour  to  digest  a  large 
spreadsheet.  A  new  386  com- 
puter could  do  the  same  chore 
in  a  fraction  of  the  time. 
You'd  really  like  one  of  these 
monster  machines,  but  you 
don't  have  $4,000  to  spend  on  a  386. 
Well,  1  have  some  good  news  for  you: 
You  can  upgrade  your  old  clunker 
without  downgrading  your  budget. 

Do  It  Yourself 

Several  shops  and  mail-order  compa- 
nies will  gladly  upgrade  your  computer 
for  you.  But,  if  they  want  to  stay  in 
business,  they  have  to  make  money.  In- 
stead of  paying  for  their  overhead  costs, 
pull  out  your  toolkit  and  develop  a  clos- 
er relationship  with  your  PC. 

If  you're  not  too  familiar  with  the 
innards  of  your  computer,  you  may 
have  some  reservations  about  tackling  a 


36       COMPUTE!  FEBRUARY        1990 


job  like  this.  But  have  no  fear;  you  can 
do  it.  You  won't  wire  or  solder  any- 
thing, and  you  won't  have  to  operate 
any  fancy  equipment.  You  can  assem- 
ble or  disassemble  an  entire  computer 
with  a  pair  of  pliers  and  a  screwdriver. 
Most  of  the  PC's  components  and  parts 
are  merely  plugged  in  to  sockets  or  con- 
nected to  cables. 

Upgrade  Options 

Once  you've  chosen  to  upgrade  do-it- 
yourself  style,  you  have  to  choose  a 
method.  Here  are  some  options.  For 
more  information  about  the  following 
products,  see  "Companies  Mentioned." 

The  NEC  V20 

If  you  have  a  PC  or  an  XT,  your  com- 
puter is  running  an  8088  microproces- 
sor chip.  There  is  a  very  inexpensive 
and  easy  way  to  speed  it  up  and  in- 
crease its  performance  by  as  much  as  30 
percent.  Just  remove  your  8088  CPU 
and  install  a  NEC  V20.  This  chip  is  a 
direct  replacement  for  the  8088,  but  its 
internal  construction  handles  some 
types  of  data  much  more  quickly. 

Most  electronics  stores  sell  the  V20 
chips  for  $7-$  12,  depending  on  the 
speed  of  your  system.  JDR  Microde- 
vices  is  one  company  that  sells  these 
chips. 


Faster  Crystals 

On  the  IBM  XT  and  compatibles,  the 
system  clock  operates  at  4.77  MHz.  By 
installing  an  additional  8-MHz  crystal, 
you  crank  up  the  speed  and  get  a  Turbo 
XT.  Some  newer  XTs  operate  at  speeds 
as  high  as  12  MHz.  Replacing  your  old 
motherboard  with  a  turbo  board  costs 
less  than  $100. 

The  original  PC  AT  used  a  12- 
MHz  crystal,  and  that  speed  was  divid- 
ed in  half  so  that  the  system  operated  at 
6  MHz.  Many  people  discovered  that 
they  could  replace  the  12-MHz  crystal 
with  a  16-MHz  crystal  and  boost  the 
speed  to  8  MHz. 

Unlike  the  PC  and  the  XT,  the  AT 
comes  with  two  separate  crystals.  It's  a 
very  simple  matter  to  change  the  one 
that  controls  the  clock  speed.  Many  of 
the  286s  now  operate  at  10  MHz,  and 
some  run  as  fast  as  20  MHz. 

If  you  have  an  older  AT  or  286 
that  operates  at  the  snail's  pace  of  6 
MHz,  you  can  buy  and  install  a  16-,  an 
1 8-,  or  even  a  20-MHz  crystal,  boosting 
your  computer's  speed  to  8,  9,  or  10 
MHz.  You  may  have  some  problems  if 
you  go  above  18  MHz,  but  the  crystals 
cost  less  than  S2  each.  Buy  them  all  and 
try  them  for  the  highest  speed.  If  you 
have  problems,  just  plug  in  a  lower- 
frequency  crystal. 

The  crystal  is  a  small  cylinder  that 
plugs  into  a  socket.  Most  electronics 
companies  supply  the  crystals. 

F    E    B    R    U    A    R 


X 


New  Plug-in  Board 

Of  all  the  boards  you  could  choose  to 
put  in  your  computer,  the  ones  that  will 
be  most  useful  are  multifiinction  boards. 
These  boards  bring  all  kinds  of  goodies 
to  your  system,  such  as  extra  memory, 
video-display  adapters,  parallel  and  se- 
rial ports,  print  spoolers,  game  ports, 
floppy  disk  drive  controllers,  and  other 
treats.  The  beauty  of  a  multifunction 
board  is  that  it  offers  several  of  these 
enhancements  in  the  same  package  but 
only  takes  up  one  slot.  The  boards  are 
very  easy  to  install,  and  several  compa- 
nies offer  different  versions  of  the  mul- 
tifunction boards  for  $30-S79. 

Installing  a  Coprocessor 

If  you  crunch  numbers  or  fold,  spindle, 
and  mutilate  large  spreadsheets,  you 
could  benefit  from  a  math  coprocessor. 
Depending  on  the  program  you  run,  a 
coprocessor  can  speed  up  math  proce- 
dures so  they  run  5-100  times  faster. 
Almost  all  motherboards  are  de- 
signed with  an  empty  socket  beside  the 
CPU.  Most  computers  are  sold  without 
the  math  coprocessor  that  fits  in  this 


19    9    0 


C    O    M    P    U    T    E    I 


37 


UPGRADE  FEVER 


socket  because  some  programs  can't 
use  this  chip,  and  it's  an  expensive 
component. 

The  coprocessor  chips  all  have  an 
87  at  the  end  of  their  chip  designation. 
For  the  8088  family,  the  math  coproces- 
sor is  called  8087.  For  the  286,  it's 
80287;  for  the  386,  it's  80387.  The  new 
Intel  486  CPU  will  have  the  math  co- 
processor built  into  the  microprocessor. 
You  can  find  it  somewhere  in  there 
among  the  1.2  million  transistors  that 
make  up  this  chip. 

The  coprocessor  chips  are  priced 
according  to  their  operating  sp>eed.  For 
instance,  an  8087  designed  to  operate  at 
the  standard  5  MHz  costs  about  $95. 
An  8087-1  that  operates  at  10  MHz 
costs  about  $175;  an  80287-10  at  10 
MHz,  about  $240;  and  an  80387-16  at 
16  MHz,  about  $350. 


fc     \ 


that  can  be  used  to  upgrade  a  286  to  a 
386.  It  costs  between  $850  and  $1,500, 
depending  on  options  and  memory. 
The  Master  386  from  AOX  can  also 
turn  a  286  into  a  386. 

Of  course  these  boards  won't  give 
you  all  of  the  advantages  of  the  real 
thing.  But  they  give  you  most  of  the  ad- 
vantages of  a  286  or  386  at  a  reasonable 
price.  See  "Companies  Mentioned"  for 
more  information. 

New  Motherboards 

The  motherboard  is  the  main  board  in 
your  computer.  It  plays  host  to  the 
CPU,  the  memory,  the  BIOS,  the  bus, 
and  many  other  components.  It  also 
has  slots  so  that  you  can  plug  other 
boards  into  it. 

The  standard  286  and  386  mother- 
boards are  considerably  larger  than  the 
XT  motherboard,  so  the  trick  is  to 
make  smaller  boards  with  the  more 


more  powerful  motherboard. 

Depending  on  the  amount  of 
memory  and  other  options,  a  baby  286 
motherboard  costs  $300-$6DO.  A  baby 
386  costs  $900-$  1,500. 

New  Floppy  Drives 

A  1.2MB  floppy  drive  reads,  writes,  and 
formats  5'/4-inch  disks  in  both  the  high- 
density  and  the  old-fashioned  360K  va- 
rieties. Likewise,  a  1.44MB  drive  reads, 
writes,  and  formats  3'/2-inch  disks  in 
both  720K  and  1. 44MB  densities. 
These  high-density  drives  cost  between 
$75  and  $125,  only  a  few  dollars  more 
than  a  360K  or  720K  drive.  A  1.2MB 
drive  stores  three  times  more  data  than 
a  360K  drive  stores,  and  a  1.44MB 
drive  stores  four  times  more  than  its 
older  cousin.  Why  would  anyone  buy  a 
360K  or  720K  drive  anymore? 


Accelerator  Boards 

Several  companies  have  developed  ac- 
celerator boards  that  you  can  plug  into 
your  old  motherboard.  Some  of  the  less 
expensive  boards  can  transform  a  PC 
into  a  much  more  powerful  and  faster 
286,  Veritek  has  one  for  $300.  Other  ac- 
celerators cost  as  much  as  $700  or 
more. 

Quadram's  386XT  turns  a  PC  into 
a  386  machine.  It  costs  about  $900. 
That  may  seem  like  a  lot,  but  the  386 
CPU  alone  costs  about  $300.  Intel's  In- 
board 386/PC  costs  $600-$  1,200,  de- 
pending on  the  amount  of  memory  you 
get  on  the  board. 

Intel  also  has  an  Inboard  38  6/ AT 


powerful  processors.  Chips  and  Tech- 
nology, as  well  as  several  other  compa- 
nies, has  developed  chip  sets  using 
very-large-scale  integration  (VLSI), 
which  combines  several  chips  into  sin- 
gle chips.  Companies  have  used  these 
chip  sets  to  design  "baby"  286  and  386 
motherboards  which  can  fit  in  an  XT. 

If  you  remove  your  old  XT  mother- 
board and  install  a  baby  286  or  386, 
you  get  all  of  the  functionality  and  pow- 
er of  the  bigger  machines.  At  the  same 
time,  you  can  use  most  of  your  old 
components  such  as  disk  drives,  plug-in 
boards,  and  peripherals  with  your  new. 


38 


COMPUTEI  FEBRUARY       1990 


New  Hard  Disk 

If  you  don't  have  a  hard  disk,  then,  by 
all  means,  get  one.  If  you  have  an  older 
one  that  holds  fewer  than  30  mega- 
bytes, you  should  probably  get  a  second 
one  or  a  larger  one.  Most  hard  disk  con- 
trollers have  provisions  for  controlling 
a  second  hard  disk,  but  you  should 
check  the  specifications  of  yours. 

A  Perstor  controller  increases  the 
capacity  of  your  hard  drive.  It  stretches 
the  storage  on  a  Seagate  ST  25 1  40- 
megabyte  hard  disk  into  78  mepbytes. 
See  "Companies  Mentioned"  for  more 
information. 

Make  sure  that  your  hard  disk  is 
backed  up  at  all  times.  You  never  know 
when  it  might  fail,  or  you  may  acci- 
dentally erase  a  file  that  is  critical. 
There  are  several  good  backup  pro- 
grams. One  comes  free  with  your  copy 
of  DOS— the  BACKUP  and  RE- 
STORE commands.  Others  cost  mon- 
ey, but  their  speed,  versatility,  and 
convenience  make  them  worthwhile.  > 


l2L-' 


^^^1 


ACTUAL  256  COLOR 
VGA  SCREENS 


'     'I  .  />. 


f^^.. 


A  powerful  crime         ~  ' 

syndicate  has  taken         ^ 

over  large  areas  of  our 

major  cities  turning  them    " 

into  vast  criminal  wastelands.  ^'J 

Arson,  extortion,  drug  distribution, 

murder  and  now... terrorist  abduction!  You 

have  just  learned  that  they  have  taken  the  U.S.  President's 

daughter  and  are  holding  her  and  our  country  hostage. 

YOU'VE  HAD  A  GUTFULL! . . .  YOUR  PURPOSE:  To  wipe  out  this 
criminal  organization  and  rescue  the  president's  daughter.  Even 
with  the  most  sophisticated  Assault  Technology  available,  it  won't 
be  easy.  You  are  the  only  one  that  can  save  the  country  from  this 
sinister  infestation  ... 

Bring  arcade  action  home  like  never  before! 

Crime  Wave,  with    ^W  Sct^fx^    and  256  color  digitized  VGA 
graphics,  puts  you  on  the  streets  for  real! 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  193 


[^ 


J^UIS^H^ 


SOFTWARE    INCORPORATED 


545  WEST 500  SOUTH.  BOUNTIFUL  UTAH  84010 
18011298-9077     1-800-824-2549 


UPtMDE  RVEI 


1) 


More  Memorj 

My  first  computer,  a  little  Morrow 
CP/M  machine,  had  a  whopping  64K 
of  random  access  memor>'  (RAM). 
That  was  plenty  for  the  few  applications 
that  were  available  back  then,  but  now 
programs  require  much  more.  Some 
new  programs  such  as  Lotus  }-2-3  ver- 
sion 3.0  will  require  about  two  mega- 
bytes. If  you  have  less  than  640K  of 
memory  on  your  motherboard,  you 
should  consider  increasing  your  RAM. 
Anything  beyond  640K  is  expanded  or 
extended  memory,  which  you  need  for 
megabyte-hungry  programs  like  that 
new  version  ai  Lotus  1-2-3. 

New  Monitor 

New  monitors  have  a  much  higher  res- 
olution than  those  of  the  early  days 
with  CGA,  The  prices  have  come  way 
down,  too.  A  good,  high-resolution 
VGA  color  monitor  costs  about  the 
same  as  a  monochrome  monitor  did  a 
few  years  ago.  VGA  will  be  the  new 
standard,  so  consider  the  many  options. 

Monochrome  monitors  can  give 
excellent  resolution,  but  you  may 
prefer  color.  Even  if  you  do 
nothing  but  word  processing, 
it  may  be  worth  the  money. 
Besides,  many  applications 
require  color. 

New  BIOS 

The  Basic  Input/Output  System  (BIOS) 
resides  in  read  only  memory  (ROM) 
plug-in  chips  on  the  motherboard.  As 
the  name  suggests,  it  controls  the  input 
and  output  of  data.  In  the  early  days,  a 
BIOS  was  fairly  simple.  The  original 
IBM  PC  didn't  even  support  hard  disk 
drives.  BIOS  chips  have  improved  to 
meet  more  sophisticated  needs  as  appli- 
cations have  proliferated.  If  you  have 
an  older  machine,  you  probably  need  a 
new  BIOS.  Award  Software  is  one  com- 
pany that  sells  BIOS  upgrades. 

Gadgets  and  Gizmos 

A  modem  links  you  to  the  rest  of  the 
world.  You  can  communicate  with 


other  computers,  with  electronic  bulle- 
tin boards,  and  with  telecommunica- 
tions services;  and  you  can  even 
manage  your  banking  with  it.  Down- 
loading software  from  a  bulletin  board 
can  more  than  pay  for  the  modem  in  a 
very  short  time. 

Facsimile  machines  send  pictures 
of  text  and  graphics  through  telephone 
lines  to  other  facsimile  machines. 
Think  of  fax  machines  as  instant  mail- 
boxes because  you  can  send  a  letter  to 
someone  instantly.  Now  that  compa- 
nies have  developed  plug-in  Fax 
boards,  you  can  easily  add  this  capabili- 
ty to  your  PC. 

Scanners  bring  pictures  into  your 
PC,  and  they're  very  handy  for  desktop 
publishing.  Some  scanners  simply 
translate  an  image  into  pixels,  whether 
that  image  is  of  artwork  or  text.  Other 
scanners  can  recognize  characters  well 
enough  to  import  text  files  that  you  can 
edit.  These  are  the  more  expensive 
species  of  scanner. 

If  you  use  your  computer  very 

much,  then  you  know 

the  importance 


ofthe  ' 

keyboard.  It's  the 

primary  method  of  data         ■    ^  „ 

input.  If  the  keys  are  too  soft         I 

or  they  don't  suit  your  typing  style, 

you  should  consider  upgrading. 

If  you  upgrade  from  a  PC  or  XT 
motherboard  to  a  286  or  386,  you  may 
have  to  buy  a  new  keyboard.  The  PC 
and  XT  keyboards  look  exactly  like  the 
286  and  386  keyboards;  they  even  have 
the  same  connector.  But  the  older  key- 
boards have  different  electronics — they 
won't  work  with  a  286  or  386.  On  some 


later-model  keyboards,  you  can  flip  a 
switch  when  you  change  from  an  older 
system  to  a  newer  one. 

A  mouse  can  be  as  important  as 
your  keyboard.  It  simplifies  many  com- 
puting tasks  and  is  essential  for  graph- 
ics-intensive programs.  More  and  more 
software  supports  the  mouse  as  an  in- 
put device,  so  now  is  a  good  time  to 
consider  buying  one. 

For  any  of  these  peripherals,  try 
your  local  computer  store  or  your  fa- 
vorite mail-order  company. 

Alternatives  to  Upgrading 

You  could  avoid  all  the  trouble  and  ex- 
pense of  upgrading  by  buying  a  new 
computer.  Depending  on  your  old  com- 
puter and  on  what  you  want  from  your 
new  one,  selling  your  first  love  might  be 
a  viable  alternative. 

But  you  might  not  get  what  you 
think  it's  worth.  The  computer  that  you 
paid  $2,500  for  a  few  years  ago  may 
bring  less  than  $500  today.  You  may 
not  want  to  go  through  the  bother  and 
hassle  of  advertising  and  selling  it. 

Another  alternative  is  to  donate 
the  old  computer  to  a  charitable  organi- 
zation. You  might  come  out  ahead  by 
deducting  it  as  a  gift  on  your  income- 
tax  return.  Then,  consider  buying  a 
completely  new  system.  For  less  than 
$2,000,  you  could  find  a  286  clone 
with  high-density  floppy  drives, 
a  30MB  hard  drive,  and  an 
EGA  monitor. 

You  can  buy  a  bare-bones 
XT  clone  for  about  $250  or  a  bare- 
bones  286  for  about  $500.  From  the 
skeleton  system,  you  could  upgrade  it 
yourself  Do  it  a  little  at  a  time  if  you're 
on  a  tight  budget. 

You  probably  never  thought  you'd 
hear  this  about  working  with  comput- 
ers, but  dig  in.  Get  your  hands  dirty. 
You'll  love  that  indescribable  feeling  of 
pleasure  that  comes  with  turning  on  a 
powerful  computer  and  having  it  in- 
stantly respond  to  your  commands. 
Is  an  upgrade  worth  it?  Well 

worth  it.    Sci'chanon  p;igi-42-  Q 


Companies  Mentioned 


AOX 

486  Totten  Pond  Rd. 
Waltham,  MA  02154 
(800)232-1269 

Award  Software 
130KnowtesDr. 
Los  Gatos,  CA  95030 
(408)  370-7979 

Chips  and  Technology 
521  Cottonwood  Dr. 
Milpitas,  CA  95035 
(408)  434-0600 


Intel 

5200  NE  Elam  Young  Pkwy. 
Hillsboro,  OR  97124 
(800)  538-3373 

JDR  Microdevices 
2233  Branham  Ln. 
San  Jose,  CA  95124 
(800)  538-5000 


NEC  Electronics 

401  Ellis  St. 

Mountain  View,  CA  94039 

(415)960-6000 

Perstor  Systems 
1335  S.  Parkin . 
Tempe,  AZ  85281 
(602)  894-3494 


Quadrarn 
One  Quad  Way 
Norcross,  GA  30093 
(404)  664-5522 

\feritek 

1205  Linda  Vista  Dr. 

San  Marcos,  CA  92069 

(619)744-2313 


40 


COMPUTE 


FEBRUARY        1990 


MS-DOS 
3.2S" 
$49:95 
Sale  $34.95 
BX-2150 

Space  Rogue-Origin 

3-D  flight  simulation  and 
intriguing  rote-playing  escapades. 
Seek  your  fortune,  face  alien  foes, 
solve  the  mysteries  of  deep  space. 


1^^ 

m 

MS-DOS 
6.25" 

Sale  $34.95 
BX-2327 
Street  Rod-California  Dreams 

Be  a  hot  rod  hero  on  some  classic 
wheels.  25  cherry  cars  to  customize 
any  way  you  like.  Drag  and  road 
racing.  Watch  out  for  the  cops! 


MS-DOS 

5.25"  &  3.5" 
$49:99 
Sale  $34.95 
BX-1225 
Battletech-Infocom 
Animated  role-playing  adven- 
ture with  exciting  battle  action. 
Detailed  story,  setting  with  over 
4  million  locations. 


Grave  Yardage-Activision 

Zombies,  ogres,  and  goblins  on 
the  gridiron.  Real  football 
action  that's — well,  unreal. 
Everything  is  legal,  and  the  ball 
is  alive  . . . 


MS-DOS 
5.25" 
S44:»5 
Sale  $29.95 
BX-2206 

Neurobics-Ocean  Isle 

Workouts  for  the  mind.  6  chal- 
lenges to  your  memory,  concentra- 
tion, and  problem-solving,  with 
over  25  levels  each.  For  all  ages. 


Ghostbusters  II-Activision 

Relive  the  hit  film — sample  slime, 
pilot  Miss  Liberty,  battle  Vigo. 
Arcade  action,  adventure,  strategy 
challenge — and  laughs! 


MS-DOS 

5.25" 
£»9:»9 
Sale  S27.95 
BX-2325 

Block  Out-California  Dreams 
3-D  mind  teaser  tests  your  reflexes 
and  coordination.  Hundreds  of 
variations.  Easy  to  play,  difficult 
to  master,  impossible  to  quit! 


MS-DOS 
5.25"  &  3.5" 
$+*:95 
Sale  $29.95 
BX-2144 

FaceOfR-Gamestar 

Furious  shoot-'n-fight  hockey  action. 

ShotCam  and  FightCam  put  you  on 

goal  and  in  the  brawls.  Playmaking, 

GM  functions,  league  play. 


Master 
American  Express  accepted 

Activision 

Ocean  Ranger BX-1916 

Data  East 

Tag  Team  Wrestling BX-1000 

Guerilla  War BX-1688 

Ikari  Warriors BX-1691 

Victory  Road BX-2319 

Gamestar 

Championship  Golf BX-1806 

Championship  Basketball BX-LERB 

Boxing  II BX-LEEJ 


Infocom 

Hollywood  Hijinx BX-1374 

Moonmist BX-1516 

Plundered  Hearts BX-133o 

Sherlock BX-1318 

Gamma  Force BX-1306 

Lane  Mastadon BX-1303 

Zork  II BX-1528 

Zorkquest BX-1309 

Zorkquest  H BX-1564 

Nord  and  Bert BX-1312 

Border  Zone BX-1324 


Call  for  your  free  catalog. 

All  games  shown  are  for  MS-DOS  computers. 
Please  call  for  ovailability  on  other  sy.stems. 


TRITON 

PRODUCTS     COMPANY 


Circle  Reader  Service  Number  143 


yPEBABE  FEVEB 

Accelerator  Cards 

Put  the  pedal  to  the  metal  with  one  of  these  easy-to-install  accelerator  cards. 


Caroline  D.  Hanlon 

An  accelerator  card  replaces  the  8088  or  80286 
chip  in  your  PC  with  a  faster  286  or  386.  With 
one  of  these  cards,  you  get  many  of  the  benefits 
of  upgrading  without  the  cost  of  a  new  system. 


An  accelerator  card  is  generally  easier  to  install 
than  a  motherboard,  and  doing  so  usually  doesn't 
affect  your  computer's  warranty. 


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42 


C    O    M    P    U    T    E    I 


FEBRUARY       1990 


How  to  Read  the  Chart 

Speed  refers  to  the  maximum  processing  speed 
you  can  expect  after  installing  the  accelerator 
card.  Add-ons  refers  to  whether  you  can  add  an- 
other card  to  the  accelerator  card.  Size  of  slots 
and  installation  requirements  are  given  to  help 
you  determine  if  the  card  will  work  with  your  ma- 


chine. Restrictions  let  you  know  what  the  card 
requires  to  work  properly.  Prices  are  for  unpopu- 
lated (without  memory)  cards.  Most  companies 
offer  technical  support,  and  that's  a  good  place 
to  check  if  you  have  any  questions  about  a  card 
before,  as  well  as  after,  you  buy. 


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For  more  information  about  any 
product  listed  In  this  chart,  contact 
the  manufacturer  at  the  address 
listed  below. 

American  Mtcronics 

18005  SkyparKCir. 

Suite  A 

Irvine,  CA  92714 

(714)261-0693 

AOX 

486  Totten  Pond  Rd. 
Waltham,  MA  02154 
(617)890-4402 

Intel 

5200  NE  Bam  Young  Pkwy. 

Hillsboro,  OR  97124 
(800)538-3373 

Konan 

1829  W.Drake  Dr. 

Tempe,  AZ  85283 

(602)345-1300 

MicroWay 
P.O.  Box  79 
Kingston,  MA  02364 
(508)  746-7341 

Orchid  Technology 
45365  Northport  Loop  W 
Fremont,  CA  94538 
(415)683-0348 

SMT  Peripherals 

310  Via  \fera  Crux 

Suite  112 

San  l\4arcos,  CA  92069 

(619)591-0268 

Sota  Technology 
551  Weddell  Dr. 
Sunnyvale,  CA  94089 
(408)745-1111 

\feritek 

1205  Linda  Vista  Dr. 
San  Marcos,  CA  92069 
(619)744-2313 


FEBRUARY       1990 


COMPUTE 


43 


RESOURCES 


UPGRADE  YOUR  SMARTS  BEFORE  YOU  TACKLE  YOUR  PC'S 


Catalogs  and 
Classifieds 

Often,  ihc  decision  to  upgrade  your 
PC  depends  on  liovv  well  your  present 
machine  ser\-es  your  compuiing  pur- 
poses. Once  you've  decided  to  up- 
grade, you  ha%'e  to  figure  out  how  far 
to  go. 

Here's  where  catalogs  and  classi- 
fied ads  come  in.  Use  these  resources 
10  help  you  weed  out  what's  afford- 
able and  what's  not.  what's  a  good 
value  and  whars  nowhere  near  worth 
the  money. 

Say.  for  example,  that  you  need  a 
faster  computer.  You  have  to  run 
your  microprocessor  at  1 6  MHz  or 
you'll  fall  asleep  over  your  spread- 
sheet program.  There's  more  than  one 
way  to  speed  up  a  computer.  Don't 
just  buy  an  accelerator  card;  it  may 
not  be  the  best  upgrade  path.  Check 
the  catalogs  and  classifieds  for  your 
options,  and  choose  the  one  that  gives 
you  the  most  features  for  the  least 
money.  For  example,  you  could  invest 
in  a  math  coprocessor  if  most  of  your 
speed-intensive  work  is  related  to 
number  crunching.  On  the  other 
hand,  it's  cheaper  (though  much  trick- 
ier) to  add  a  faster  cr>'stal  to  your 
system. 

Trv'  software  and  small-scale  en- 
hancements, too.  Sometimes  you  can 
get  all  the  extra  power  \'ou  need  from 
a  disk-cache  program  or  from  a  better 
hard  disk-management  strategy. 

You'll  find  yourself  in  safer  wa- 
ters, though,  if  you  make  friends  with 
someone  who  can  advise  you  techni- 
cally. No  matter  how  cheap  an  up- 
grade option  is.  it  will  cost  you  big 
bucks  if  it  breaks  your  computer. 

Assess  Your  Needs 

Before  you  upgrade,  ask  yourself 
these  five  questions  to  figure  out  why 
you're  dissatisfied  and  what  would 
make  you  happier: 

1.  Do  1  spend  loo  much  time  twid- 
dling my  thumbs  while  m>-  PC 
processes  my  data? 


BOOKS 


Look  for  books  that  discuss  either  why  you  should  upgrade  or  how  you  can  get 
more  power  out  of  your  PC.  Tomes  on  these  topics  arc  harder  to  find  than 
books  about  PCs  in  general.  However,  your  search  will  be  worthwhile.  Try 
these  volumes  on  building  your  PC's  muscles. 

■  Supercharging  Your  PC.  bv  Lewis  Perdue:  Osborne  McGraw-Hill.  2600 
Tenth  St..  Berkeley,  CA  94710;  (800)  227-0900 

■  Maintaining.  Upgrading,  and  Troubleshooting  IBM  PCs.  Compatibles, 
and  PS/2  Persona!  Computers,  by  Mark  Minasi  (due  out  in  May):  COM- 
PUTE! Books,  Chilton  Book  Company.  One  Chilton  Way.  Radnor.  PA. 
19089:  (800)  345-1214 

■  The  PC  Configuration  Handbook,  by  John  Woram:  Bantam  Electronic 
Publishing.  Bantam  Books,  666  Fifth  .\ve..  New  York.  NY  10103;  (212) 
765-6500 

■  Upgrading  and  Repairing  PCs.  b\  Scott  Mueller;  Que,  1 1 7 1 1  N.  College 
Ave,  Carmel.  IN  46032:  (800)  428-5331 

■  The  PC  Upgrader's  Manual,  by  Gilbert  Held;  John  Wiley  and  Sons,  605 
Third  .\ve..  New  York,  NY  10158-0012;  (212)  850-6276 


MISCELLANEOUS 


User  groups  and  telecommunications  services  are  loaded  with  experts  and  ad- 
visors on  a  variety  of  computing  issues.  Whether  or  not  to  upgrade  is  probably 
one  of  the  hottest  topics  on  (he  roster  of  debates.  You'll  have  no  trouble  find- 
ing someone  (or  hundreds  of  someones)  to  give  you  advice.  The  trick  is  to 
evaluate  that  advice  with  your  own  needs  in  mind. 

On  telecommunications  services,  look  for  people  who  not  only  know 
what  they're  talking  about,  but  who  also  know  how  lo  speak  at  your  level.  If 
you  know  exactly  what  you  want  and  you're  an  experienced  user,  you  need 
to  talk  to  someone  who  can  appreciate  your  needs  as  a  power  user.  Beginners 
need  advisors  who  can  speak  their  language.  If  you  wander  around  the  tele- 
communications services  extensively,  you'll  find  discussions  that  resemble 
religious  wars  over  which  microchip  is  in  and  which  will  be  extinct  in  a  few 
days.  Use  these  battles  as  background;  most  are  based  on  opinion  as  much  as 
on  fact. 

In  user  groups,  watch  for  the  people  who  enjoy  taking  less  experienced 
members  under  iheir  wings.  Also,  keep  an  eye  out  for  special  seminars  on 
upgrading. 

Besides  people  contact,  try  software  contact.  COMPUTEI's  PC  Magazine 
will  publish  an  article  on  upgrading  your  computer  in  March  that  will  be 
accompanied  by  a  program  that  tells  you  how  much  your  dream  computer 
will  cost.  In  the  process,  you'll  learn  a  lot  about  your  options. 


2.  Docs  the  computer  seem  too  slow 
all  the  time  or  only  during  certain 
tasks? 

3.  How  much  money  can  I  spend? 

4.  What  do  I  want  to  be  doing  with 
my  PC  next  year  at  this  time? 

5.  What  do  1  want  to  be  doing  with 
m\-  PC  three  years  down  the  road? 


If  your  computer  is  loo  slow,  you 
should  consider  an  upgrade  (question 
I).  Question  2  identifies  specific 
bottlenecks.  Money,  as  always,  dic- 
tates how  much  upgrading  you  can  do 
(question  3).  Questions  4  and  5  refer 
to  the  future.  The  future  can  be  expen- 
sive if  you  don't  account  for  it. 


COMPUTE! 


f    E 


RUARY        1990 


How  to  tell  if  an  integrated  software 
package  is  right  for  you. 


Look  How 
Things  Have  Changed. 

When  integrated  software  first  appeared, 
it  had  limited  fimctionality,  was  difficult  to 
learn,  cumbersome  to  use,  and  cost 
between  $300  and  $500.  Today  most 
integrated  products  have  a  more  complete 
set  of  features,  are  easier  to  leam,  and  are 
priced  between  $  149  and  $259. 

Amazingly,  critics  say  Eight-in-One™,  a 
product  costing  only  $60,  is  the  easiest 
to  leam,  easiest  to  use,  yet  has  the 
highest  performance.  Who  needs  an 
integrated  package  the  most?  And  what 
can  you  do  with  them? 

Home  Office  and  Small 

Business  People  Have 

Discovered  a  Secret. 

W  orking  in  a  home  office  or  small 
business  usually  means  that  you  do  a  little 
bit  of  everything  -  write  reports,  do 
financial  analysis,  schedule  appointments, 
track  customer  information,  and  anything 
else  it  takes  to  run  a  business  without  lots 
of  people.  If  you  have  all  of  the  tools  you 
need  in  one  integrated  software  package 
you  get  several  immediate  advantages. 

Imagine  having  a  collection  of  robust 
applications,  poised  in  a  single  program, 
ready  to  tackle  all  of  those  tasks  you 
always  thought  that  a  computer  should  be 
good  for . . .  to  put  a  graph  into  a  letter 
and  have  it  finished  three  minutes  later . . . 
to  instantly  check  your  next  appointment, 
or  automatically  dial  a  customer  on  the 
telephone  while  you're  in  the  middle  of 
working  on  a  spreadsheet. 

With  integrated  packages  you  can  save 
a  lot  of  time.  Since  you  probably  teach 
yourself  how  to  use  software  (unlike 
working  in  a  large  corporation  where 
you'd  get  training  and  support  from  the 
department  down  the  hall)  you'll 
appreciate  how  much  more  quickly 
you'd  become  productive  using  one 
integrated  package  rather  than  many 
separate  programs.  Because  when  you 
leam  one  tool,  you've  learned  them  all. 


A.  nd  you  can  save  a  lot  of  money  too- 
over  $1000.  Because  you  won't  have  to 
buy  many  .separate  packages  like  a 
word  processor,  spreadsheet,  database, 
graphics,  and  communications  program, 
just  to  get  all  of  the  tools  you  could  find 
in  one  complete,  affordably  priced, 
integrated  package. 

What  Do  You  Get  In  The 

Best  Integrated 

Packages? 

i  he  best  integrated  packages  put  a 
complete  solution  at  your  fingertips. 
They  provide  you  with  all  of  the  useful 
tools  that  you  need  to  do  your  job-  a 
word  processor,  spreadsheet,  database, 
outliner,  desktop  organizer, 
communications  module,  graphics 
program  and  powerful  spell  checker 
and  thesaurus. 

Well  designed  integrated  packages  are 
obvious-to-use.  All  of  the  options  are 
right  there  on  the  screen.  And  each  tool 
should  work  in  the  same  way,  so  that 
after  spending  a  few  minutes  working 
with  one  of  the 
applications, 

you've  virtually      ..  mo^  u,.rirt-\\oii;iie 
mastered  the  "^   W^K  ..  n,. 

entire  program. 

What's  more, 

the  best 
integrated 
packages  are 
Ughtning  fast. 
Doing  things  like 
recalculating  a 

large  spreadsheet    con^teiBditot's Choice 
or  spell  checking     ^'"Tipue.  coirors  wwice 

a  letter  should  never  slow  you  down.  So 
with  a  high  quality  integrated  package 
you  take  full  advantage  of  the  power  of 
your  computer.  Many  users  say  they  get 
their  work  done  in  half  the  time. 


W  ith  Eight-in-One  you  get  more  useful 
tools  than  you  find  in  other  integrated 
packages.  You  not  only  get  a  powerful 
spreadsheet,  word  processor,  database, 
graphics,  and  communications  program, 
but  also  a  desktop  organizer,  outliner, 
spell  checker,  thesaurus  and  pop-up 
calculator. 

Y  ou  might  expect  the  most  expensive 

packages  to  have  the  highest  performance. 
But  Eight-in-One  actually  outperformed 
Microsoft  Works®  and  PES:  First 
Choice^",  costing  more  than  twice  as 
much,  in  a  recent  test  conducted  by  a 
nationally  recognized  independent 
software  testing  laboratory. 

li)ight-in-One  is  the  only  program 
that's  truly  obvious-to-use.  Knowing 
what  to  do  next  is  always  apparent  from 
the  on-screen  prompts  and  drop  down 
menus.  According  to  Eight-in-One 
users,  this  experience  goes  beyond 
"easy  learning".  They  say  it's  more  like 
not  having  to  leam  at  all,  because 
everything  is  so  obvious  on  the  screen. 

The  Experts  Agree  . . . 

".,.  the  best  integrated  package  I've 
ever  seen ..." 

-Home  Office  Computing 

"You  don't  need  to  open  the  numttalat 
ail  to  use  BetlerWorking  Eight-in-One" 
-PC  Magazine 

"Eight-in-One  may  he  the  only- 
computer  program  you'll  ever  need ..." 
-New  York  Times 

"...  PES:  First  Choice  and  Microsoft 
Works,  move  over!" 

-PC  Magazine 


And,  amazingly,  Eight-in-One  costs 
only  $59.95-  a  fraction  of  the  price  of 
other  integrated  programs! 


Surprises  in  Eight-in-One. 

Here's  why  over  150,000  people  in  home 
offices  and  small  businesses  have  switched 
to  Eight-in-One  in  the  last  two  years. 


Visit  your  local  software  dealer  today, 
or  call  Spinnaker  at  1-800-826-0706, 
to  leam  more  about  why  Eight-in-One 
is  the  right  integrated 
software  package  for  you. 


A 


Circle  Reader  Service  Number  t65 


Hib,  jXAia^-  OiflJGMt  i  U- 


McrosoftWorks 

*  Wxd  Placesjcr  wilh  Spelling  OKcici  snl  fTEitaunn  *  DriAbotte  wich  Rcporlin^ 


POWER  AND 
INTEGRATION 
GIVE  YOU 

THE  WORKS 


COMPUn! 
CHOICE 


PETER  SCISCO 


46       COMPUTEI  FEBRUA 


For  new  and  intermediate 
computer  users,  the  value 
of  a  good  integrated  pack- 
age can't  be  overestimat- 
ed. The  comfort  of  a 
single  interface  provides 
uncomplicated  access  to 
several  companion  appli- 
cations %vhile  it  shortens 
the  time  it  takes  to  iearn 
any  one  of  them.  The 
newest  overhaul  to  Microsoft  Works. 
version  2.0,  provides  all  of  these  bene- 
fits and  more.  Its  seamless  integra- 
tion, powerful  applications,  detailed 
help  features,  and  comprehensive  on- 
line tutorials  show  once  again  why, 
when  it  comes  lo  low-cost  integrated 
software,  this  package  remains  king  of 
the  hill. 

Works  makes  use  of  IBM's  Com- 

R    Y        19    9    0 


mon  User  Access  (CUA) 
structure,  which  is  a  set  of 
rules  governing  how  appli- 
cations are  displayed  on- 
screen. Programs  that  use 
CUA  can  be  loosely  com- 
pared to  Macintosh  pro- 
gams  (minus  icons),  which 
have  always  incorporated 
and  shared  that  computer's 
common  interface  design. 
What  that  means  for  you  is 
that  once  you've  grown 
comfortable  with  one  of  the 
Works  modules,  you'll 
have  an  easier  time  getting 
up  lo  speed  on  its  other 
applications. 

The  Works  interface 
centers  around  a  menu  bar 
at  the  top  of  the  screen, 
with  pull-down  menus  that 
are  accessible  using  a 
mouse  or  keyboard  com- 
mands. When  the  program 
loads,  the  File  menu  ap- 
pears automatically — a  dif- 
ference from  earlier 
versions  in  which  you  had 
to  pull  the  menu  down  after  you  load- 
ed the  program.  This  slight  but  pleas- 
ing improvement  saves  a  couple  of 
keystrokes  and  implies  that  Microsoft 
pays  attention  to  Htirks  owners.  After 
all,  what's  the  use  of  loading  the  pro- 
gram if  you  don't  intend  to  work  on  a 
file? 

Beyond  the  interface  lies  a  power- 
ful group  of  applications  that  will 
serve  the  needs  of  any  home  com- 
puter user — and  small-business  user, 
too,  for  that  matter.  For  under  S 1 50, 
you  can  have  all  the  software  you'll 
ever  need  (except  for  the  latest  hit 
game).  The  word  processor  is  hardy 
and  boasts  a  spelling  checker  and  a 
thesaurus,  the  spreadsheet  is  large 
enougli  for  any  but  the  most  complex 
number-crunching  tasks,  the  database 
is  flexible  and  easy  to  use,  and  the 


communications  module  makes  get- 
ting online  easier  than  ever. 

Works  doesn't  require  the  latest 
386SX  computer  to  run;  it's  happy 
chugging  away  on  a  PC  or  XT  com- 
patible, which  will  make  a  lot  of  new 
computer  owners  happy  as  well.  It 
will  also  run  ofF  of  floppy  disks;  in 
fact,  the  whole  set  of  applications  will 
fit  on  one  S'/i-inch  720K  disk,  making 
the  package  ideal  for  use  on  a  laptop. 
Works' basic  hardware  requirements 
of  512K  ofR^AJvl  and  DOS  2.0  or 
higher  are  minimal  enough  to  be  con- 
sidered standards  today  for  home 
computers. 

Installation  is  a  simple  process  of 
moving  through  the  program's  setup 
procedure.  Whether  you're  installing 
Works  for  the  first  time  or  upgrading 
from  a  previous  version,  you'll  find 
the  clear  and  concise  setup  instruc- 
tions a  breeze  to  follow. 

After  you've  installed  the  pro- 
gram, you're  ready  to  go  to  work.  If 
you're  new  to  Works,  you  may  want 
to  install  the  online  tutorial.  This  se- 
ries of  lessons  will  guide  you  through 
any  program,  even  from  inside  an  ap- 
plication. Microsoft  deserves  high 
marks  for  this  comprehensive  and  ele- 
gant solution  to  the  intimidating 
learning  process  that  new  buyers  often 
face. 

The  first  application  that  most 
users  will  investigate  is  word  process- 
ing, and  the  updated  Works  sports 
several  welcome  advances  over  ver- 
sion 1.05.  Foremost  among  the  im- 
provements is  the  way  the  program 
displays  text  onscreen.  In  earlier  ver- 
sions, Works  showed  different  charac- 
ter styles  (bold,  italic,  and  so  on)  in 
bold  typeface.  Version  2.0  uses  differ- 
ent colors  to  identify  italic,  subscript, 
superscript,  and  underlined  text.  Even 
better  is  the  program's  new  graphics 
capability,  which  allows  a  WYSIWYG 
display  so  that  the  type  style  you  se- 
lect is  visible  on  the  screen.  That 


makes  it  a  lot 

easier  to  see 

which  style  you've 

used  on  a  particular  word  or 

phrase. 

Running  Works  in  graphics 
mode  is  quite  a  bit  slower  than  " 

running  it  in  text  mode,  so  you'll  prob- 
ably want  to  use  the  graphics  mode 
only  on  a  case-by-case  basis.  Although 
you  can  choose  the  graphics  mode 
during  setup,  it  makes  more  sense  to 
install  the  program  as  a  faster  text-based 
application  since  you  can  select  between 
text  and  graphics  at  any  time. 

Works  now  lets  you  add  auto- 
matically numbered  endnotes  to  your 
document.  Although  the  manual  re- 
fers to  them  as  footnotes,  they  fall  at 
the  end  of  the  document. 

To  aid  navigation  through  long 
documents,  you  can  place  bookmarks 
in  the  text  to  which  you  can  return. 
Bookmarks  are  key  words  that  you  at- 
tach to  specific  parts  of  your  docu- 
ment; from  the  Select  menu  you  can 
highlight  the  Go  To  command,  which 
will  display  bookmark  names.  Simply 
select  the  bookmark  to  which  you 
want  to  return  and  the  program 
whisks  you  there. 

The  spreadsheet  in  Works  retains 
its  serviceable  demeanor  and  adds  a 
few  nice  touches  that  make  it  an  even 
better  financial  tool.  A  Fill  Series 
command,  which  lets  you  fill  a  select- 
ed group  of  cells  with  a  series  of  num- 
bers or  dates,  has  been  added  to  the 
Fill  Down  and  Fill  Right  commands. 
This  speeds  data  entry  and  eliminates 
many  entry  errors. 

Manipulating  spreadsheet  data  is 
easier  now  with  a  function  that  sorts 
rows  on  any  number  of  columns  or 
fields.  This  function  was  previously 
available  only  in  the  database  module. 
As  you  arrange  spreadsheet  figures  in 
ascending  or  descending  order  {you 
can  also  sort  cell  labels  alphabetical- 
ly), you  gain  new  perspectives  on  what 

FEBRUARY 


the  numbers  mean — and  that's  crucial 
for  any  home  office  or  home  budget. 
To  ease  your  path  into  spreadsheets, 
Microsoft  has  included  two  sample 
files:  a  home-budget  worksheet  and  an 
amortization  schedule.  You  can  adapt 
both  to  suit  your  needs,  or  you  can 
study  the  way  they're  put  together  and 
create  your  own. 

Printing  spreadsheets,  especially 
large  ones,  has  always  been  a  pain. 
Works  contributes  a  little  analgesic 
with  its  Preview  feature.  Select  Pre- 
view from  the  Print  menu  to  see  a 
miniature  version  of  your  document 
(spreadsheet,  word  processing  file, 
database,  or  chart)  as  it  will  appear 
when  printed.  By  changing  the  dimen- 
sions of  your  paper  from  portrait  to 
landscape,  you  can  get  a  view  of  your 
document  as  it  would  be  printed  side- 
ways, (The  actual  printing  depends  on 
whether  you've  configured  your  print- 
er correctly;  I  wish  these  things  were 
more  automatic.) 

The  Preview  feature  saves  time 
as  well  as  paper.  No  more  printing 
several  copies  of  a  document  until 
you  get  it  looking  just  right;  just  pre- 
view the  file  and  press  the  P  key  to 
start  the  printingjob  if  you're  satisfied 
with  the  layout. 

Works '  third  module,  the  data- 
base, provides  all  the  sorting,  report- 
ing, filing,  and  tracking  that  any 
small-business  or  home  computer 
user  will  ever  need.  Unlike  earlier  ver- 
sions, fields  can  be  several  lines 
long — up  to  256  characters.  Again, 
Microsoft  has  gone  out  of  its  way  to 

1990  COMPUTE!       47 


#  PRODUCTIVITY 


lead  you  into  the  sometimes-intimi- 
dating world  of  databases  by  including 
several  templates,  such  as  a  check  reg- 
ister, an  appointment  book,  and  an 
address  file. 

To  bolster  its  attractiveness  to 
business  users,  the  database  module 
adds  form-generation  capabilities  to 
its  list  of  reporting  functions.  This  fea- 
ture is  invaluable  for  creating  blank 
forms  for  home-office  or  small-busi- 
ness use.  Form-making  software  has 
developed  quite  a  following  in  the 
past  couple  of  years,  and  with  this  fea- 
ture Works  again  solves  the  problem 
of  figuring  out  how  many  different 
software  packages  to  buy  to  get  the 
most  out  of  your  computer. 

The  final  Works  module,  com- 
munications, retains  the  ease  of  use 
that  made  version  1.05  such  a  plea- 
sure. If  you're  new  to  Works,  youTl 
appreciate  the  Record  Sign-On  fea- 
ture. Activating  this  command  re- 
cords all  of  the  keystrokes  necessary 
for  losing  on  to  your  favorite  online 
services — no  more  aggravating 
charges  for  time  spent  keying  in  your 
sign-on,  and  no  more  complicated 
scripts  to  master  in  order  to  automate 
the  sign-on  process.  A  scrollable  buff- 
er lets  you  review  text  that's  scrolled 
offscreen.  You  can  also  load  the  cap- 
tured text  into  another  application, 
such  as  the  word  processor. 

The  task  of  any  integrated  pack- 
age is  just  that — the  pulling  together 
of  separate  applications  so  that  the 
benefits  of  each  are  compounded. 
PForfa' integration  is  graceful,  and  im- 
provements to  this  newest  version 
make  sharing  data  between  applica- 
tions even  easier.  Foremost  among 
these  improvements  is  Works' ubilily 
to  display  overlapping  windows — up 
to  eight  at  once.  In  earlier  versions, 
you  also  could  have  eight  files  active 
at  once,  but  only  one  window  could 
be  displayed  on  the  screen  at  any  one 
time.  With  version  2.0,  you  can  size, 
arrange,  zoom,  and  position  windows 
on  the  screen  to  suit  your  needs. 

A  number  of  other  software  pro- 
grams have  proved  the  benefit  of  mul- 
tiple windows,  and  it's  extremely 
gratifying  to  see  Works  embrace  this 
strategy  as  well.  It's  also  a  nice  piece 
of  irony  that  the  company  that  is 
bringing  us  Windows  is  just  now  in- 
corporating that  technology  in  one  of 
its  premier  products. 

Pasting  one  file  into  another  (a 
spreadsheet  or  chart  into  a  word  pro- 
cessor, for  example)  is  exceptionally 
easy  and  requires  just  a  few  key- 
strokes. You  can  open  files  from  any 
of  the  modules  and  have  them  visible 


on  the  screen — no  need  to  close  a 
spreadsheet  to  write  a  letter  or  to  exit 
the  database  to  chart  some  figures. 
Coupled  with  the  Preview  function 
mentioned  earlier,  the  integration  of 
information  produced  from  any  of 
Works '  modules  becomes  a  seamless 
and  graceful  procedure — the  defini- 
tion of  integrated  software. 

If  Works  were  limited  to  its  four 
applications  and  the  integration  be- 
tween them,  it  would  still  be  a  top- 


The  Works  tutorial  eases  the  learning 
process  and  quickly  gets  you  working. 

flight  package.  But  Microsoft  has  gone 
even  farther,  taking  steps  to  ensure 
that  this  is  the  only  productivity  soft- 
ware package  many  computer  owners 
will  ever  need  to  buy. 

Works  will  exchange  information 
with  other  software  programs  by  let- 
ting you  save  spreadsheet,  word  pro- 
cessing, and  database  files  in  .ASCII 
format  for  importing  into  other  appli- 
cations. Of  course,  you  lose  your  for- 
mat codes  when  you  convert  to 
ASCII.  For  more  direct  conversion  of 
word  processing  files,  you  can  buy  a 
supplemental  Word  Processing  Con- 
version Program,  which  offen  the 
choice  of  DCA  and  RTF  formats  so 
that  you  can  convert  files  to  and  from 
such  programs  as  WordPerfect  and 
Displaywrile.  I'll  take  Microsoft  to 
task  on  this  point.  If  I  have  to  spend 
extra  money  on  a  conversion  pro- 
gram, I  should  get  a  more  direct  path 
than  DC4  and  RTF.  For  example,  I 
should  be  able  to  convert  a  Works  file 
to  a  WordPerfect  file  without  having 
to  convert  it  to  DCA  format  first. 
Either  that,  or  Microsoft  should  in- 
clude the  Conversion  program  with 
the  Works  package  at  no  additional 
cost. 

An  online  calculator  is  useful  for 
quick  calculations,  especially  in 
spreadsheets  (although  it's  available 
in  all  of  the  modules).  My  only  com- 
plaint is  that  after  you've  made  one 
calculation,  the  calculator  menu  drops 
from  the  screen  and  you  have  to  call  it 
up  again  to  make  a  second  calcula- 
tion. Hopefully,  in  its  next  upgrade, 
Microsoft  will  provide  a  calculator 


that  will  remain  on  the  screen  until 
the  user  chooses  to  close  it.  Come  to 
think  of  it.  the  company  should  make 
the  calculator  window  movable  as 
well,  so  it  won't  cover  up  the  part  of 
the  work  area  that  you  need  to  see. 

The  new  version  of  Works  offers 
several  file-management  capabilities. 
From  the  File  menu,  you  can  copy, 
delete,  and  move  files  and  directories. 
For  all  those  times  that  you  used  to 
drop  out  of  Works  to  perform  everday 
DOS  functions,  you  can  now  stay 
aboard.  Even  better,  you  can  launch 
other  software  applications  from  with- 
in Works  by  selecting  Run  Other  Pro- 
grams from  the  File  menu.  This  is  a 
much  smoother  way  of  launching 
other  applications  than  the  old  way  of 
going  from  Works  to  DOS  and  from 
there  to  your  other  software  program. 
On  a  5 1 2K  AT  compatible,  I  had  no 
problems  running  a  small  calendar 
program  and  GrandVie^v  from  Works, 
but  I  didn't  have  the  space  to  load 
Xy  Write  III  Plus.  If  I  didn't  have  to 
load  a  laser  printer  driver  or  if  I  had 
640K  or  more  of  RAM,  I  might  not 
have  experienced  any  trouble. 

Another  useful  desktop  accessory 
is  the  alarm  clock,  which  sounds  an 
alarm  {you  can  set  more  than  one) 
and  displays  a  message  on  your  screen 
at  a  time  that  you  specify.  For  those 
who  spend  most  of  their  working 
hours  inside  of  this  program,  it's  a 
small  addition  that  adds  up  to  a  great 
benefit. 

All  in  all,  Microsoft's  revamped 
Works  puts  new  life  into  this  venera- 
ble workhorse.  Its  simple  design,  user- 
friendly  interface,  graceful  presenta- 
tion, and  short  learning  cycle  are  all 
designed  for  people  who  demand  a  lot 
from  their  software — including  a  low 
price.  Works  isn't  the  least  expensive 
integrated  package  on  the  market,  and 
it  lacks  some  features  (such  as  an  out- 
liner  for  the  word  processor)  offered 
by  other  packages  such  as  Spinnaker's 
BellerWorking  Eight-in-One.  But  if 
you're  looking  for  a  powerful  set  of 
software  that  incorporates  the  best  in 
interface  design  for  the  PC,  Works  re- 
mains the  best  of  the  lot. 


Microsoft  Works  version  2.0 

IBM  PC  and  compatibles  with  512K  o1 
RAM— S149 

Upgrade  from  version  1 .05— $50  (free  if 
version  1.05  vras  purcfiased  after  Oclo- 
fier  1.1989) 

fUllCROSOFT 

16011  NE  36th  Way 

Box  97017 

Redmond.  WA  98073-9717 

(206)  882-8080 


48       COfvlPUTE 


FEB[?UARY        1990 


The  current  tools  of  management 
aren't  good  enough. 


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Introducing  ARRIBA,  the  software 
you  can't  manage  without. 


Arriba  is  a  powerful  Personal  Information  Man- 
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vers on  the  keyboard  to  call  up  your  information. 
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Arriba  the  day  you  load  it  on  your  computer. 

"Arriba  is  a  strong  and  flexible  package,  one 
that  just  may  meet  your  information-manage- 
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COMPUTE! 
Arriba  helps  you  manage  people,  tasks,  and 
events.  Organize  your  thoughts,  ideas,  notes, 
schedules  and  contacts  into  cohesive  action  plans. 
Cross  reference  names  and  phone  numbers  to  task 
lists,  task  lists  to  project  folders,  project  folders  to 
status  reports,  and  more. 

"If  you've  entered  the  information  in  Arriba, 
you  can  find  it-fast." 

COMPUTE! 


Arriba's  full -text  search  technology  finds  any 
piece  of  information  in  seconds.  And  it  isn't 
limited  to  just  pre-defined  key  words.  If  you  can 
remember  any  part  of  any  note,  Arriba  can  find  it. 

"Arriba  is  highly  customizable  and  can  be 
adapted  easily  to  handle  information  specific  to 
individual  needs." 

Iiifoworld 

Arriba's  flexible  approach  lets  you  manage  your 
personal  information  the  way  you  want-by  using  the 
built-in  applications  or  by  customizing  your  own 
folders. 

Friendly.  Logical.  Powerful,  That's  Arriba.  No 
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#  PRODUCTIVITY 


MPACT 


AVID 


THORNBURG 


AS  we  enter  the  last  decade 
of  the  twentieth  century, 
it's  clear  that  our  lives 
have  undergone  signifi- 
cant changes  in  the  past 
ten  years.  Nowhere  is  this 
more  evident  than  in  busi- 
ness. External  changes — 
the  decline  of  our  aging 
manufacturing  base  and 
the  rise  of  the  service  sec- 
tor— mask  more  fundamental  changes 
that  strike  the  very  heart  of  all  busi- 
nesses, large  and  small,  manufactur- 
ing and  service-based.  These  changes 
affect  how  we  do  our  jobs,  and  they 
change  our  expectations  about  our 
work  environment. 

To  a  large  extent,  these  changes 
have  been  facihtated  by  technology. 
For  example,  the  almost  universal  ac- 
cess to  inexpensive  calculators  has 
eliminated  the  mechanical  slide  rule 
on  the  engineer's  belt.  The  photocopi- 
er has  reduced  the  need  for  carbon  pa- 
per. The  word  processor  has  changed 
the  job  of  the  secretary  who.  in  many 
cases,  has  accepted  new  responsibil- 
ities that  go  far  beyond  typing. 

Now  that  computers  have  be- 
come indispensable  desk  accessories, 
we  can  see  the  forces  that  have  set  in 
motion  the  next  phase  of  our  techno- 
logical development. 

The  nineteenth-century  industri- 
al model  that  provided  the  foundation 
for  our  growih  was  connected  to  a  pre- 
vailing paradigm  based  on  Newtonian 
physics — that  is,  the  notion  that,  like 
a  falling  body,  the  movement  of  mar- 
kets could  be  predicted  and  that  busi- 
ness would  be  attracted  to  the  strong 
center  provided  by  the  industrial 
giants. 

As  the  twentieth  century  pro- 
gressed, we  underwent  a  revision  in 
our  model  of  the  universe,  in  which 
Newton's  ideas  broke  down  on  close 
inspection.  Einstein's  notion  of  mass 
as  energy,  Bohr's  ideas  on  the  duality 
of  waves  and  panicles,  and  Heisen- 
berg's  principle  regarding  the  inherent 
uncertainty  of  quantum  events  all  for- 
ever destroyed  the  clockwork  universe 
epitomized  by  classical  physics. 


This  paradigm  shift  in  physics  is 
now  being  reflected  in  business.  Tech- 
nology, of  course,  is  making  this  trans- 
formation possible,  but  it  is  the  shift 
in  our  perspective  that  is  critical.  To 
see  this,  imagine  a  quantum  experi- 
ment in  which  a  photon  (light  parti- 
cle) is  directed  to  a  diffraction  grating. 
When  it  hits  the  grating,  it  behaves 
like  a  wave  and  is  sent  off  in  a  new  di- 
rection. Our  traveling  photon  then 
may  hit  a  photocell,  where  it  will  be 
detected  as  a  particle.  Depending  on 
its  interaction  with  other  objects,  the 
photon  can  behave  like  a  wave  or  like 
a  particle. 

Now  lake  a  look  at  modern  busi- 
ness communication,  using  a  fax  ma- 
chine as  an  example.  The  document 
starts  in  one  office  in  particle  form  (as 
a  sheet  of  paper).  It  is  then  placed  on 
the  fax  machine,  where  its  infor- 
mation is  sent  as  electronic  signals  (as 
waves)  to  the  receiving  machine,  on 
which  it  then  reappears  as  a  physical 
sheet  of  paper  (in  particle  form).  Con- 
trast this  form  of  communication  with 
the  older  Newtonian  pure  particle 
model,  in  which  a  letter  is  placed  in  an 
envelope  and  is  sent  through  the  mail. 
As  the  cost  of  carrying  physical  mail 
has  increased,  the  cost  of  electronic 
transmission  has  decreased,  making 
the  new  process  less  expensive  than 
the  old  one.  .As  a  side  benefit,  a  mes- 
sage can  be  faxed  halfway  around  the 
world  in  less  than  a  minute.  .As  mil- 


50 


COMPUTE) 


lions  of  inexpensive  fax  machines  are 
purchased  every  year,  the  Newtonian 
postal  service  runs  the  real  risk  of  los- 
ing its  high-profit  first-class  mail  to 
this  electronic  technology. 

Another  characteristic  of  the  new 
physics  is  that  time,  space,  and  matter 
coexist  and  interrelate  in  subtle  ways. 
From  the  perspective  of  relativity  the- 
ory, we  see  the  office  in  a  new  light. 
Thousands  of  people  have  decided 
that  their  office  is  wherever  they  hap- 
pen to  be  at  the  moment.  Airplane 
cabins  have  been  turned  into  airborne 
offices.  Some  people  are  listening  to 
recorded  courses  on  goal  achieve- 
ment, others  are  working  with  their 
laptop  computers,  and  still  others  are 
on  the  telephone.  The  home  office 
now  exists  at  30,000  feet  and  is  mov- 
ing at  close  to  the  speed  of  sound. 

When  laptop  computers  first 
came  out,  they  were  regarded  as  toys. 
The  Tandy  Model  1 00  and  its  early 
NEC  counterpart  may  look  pale  com- 
pared with  today's  products,  but  the 
success  of  this  market  has  had  less  to 
do  with  technology  than  with  atti- 
tudes. The  original  personal  computer 
of  the  1970s  was  personal  in  owner- 
ship but  not  in  use.  The  computer  was 
on  a  desk,  not  in  our  immediate  pos- 
session. Today's  laptops  and  palm- 
sized  machines  are  truly  personal. 
You  can  use  them  at  a  desk,  on  an  air- 
plane, or  while  you're  sitting  under  a 
tree. 

Along  with  the  rise  of  the  truly 
personal  computer,  we've  seen  ad- 
vances in  the  area  of  compact  hand- 
held copiers.  .And  Motorola's  newest 
cellular  phone  looks  more  like  the 
hand-held  communicator  from  "Star 
Trek"  than  the  bulky  cellular  porta- 
bles of  the  past.  One's  computer,  cal- 
culator, telephone,  and  copier  can 
now  fit  in  an  attache  case. 

In  thinking  about  the  impact  of 
technology  in  your  business,  think  less 
about  the  hardware  and  more  about 
the  prevailing  paradigms  of  physics. 
There  will  be  a  lot  of  changes  in  the 
next  decade,  and  you  can  benefit  from 
them  if  you  keep  your  imagination 
alive.  H 


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ROBERT  BIXBY 


\^^m.- 


or  a  number  of  months,  I've  had  a 
Star  Laserprinter  8  at  my  right  hand, 
and  now  I  wonder  how  I  survived 
without  it.  While  it  has  performed 
well  as  a  simple  text  printer,  it  has 
also  helped  me  create  typeset-quality 
documents,  camera-ready  illustra- 
tions for  my  latest  book,  graphics  for 
friends  who  publish  magazines,  and 
endless  resumes. 

It's  several  times  faster  than  a 
dot-matrix  printer,  it  endlessly  grinds  out  perfect 
pages  without  complaint,  and— best  of  all— it 
has  banished  the  banshee  scream  of  the  dot-matrix 
printer.  But,  balancing  against  its  advantages  is 
the  fact  that  the  printer  is  expensive  enough  to 
give  most  people  pause.  Is  it  worth  the  expense? 
The  answer  is  a  qualified  Yes.  Yes,  if  you  are 
a  desktop  publisher.  Yes,  if  you  run  a  home  of- 
fice where  the  quality  of  your  printed  documents 
makes  a  big  difference  or  if  you  produce  and  re- 
vise flexible  instructional  aids.  Writers  and 
graphic  artists,  too,  cherish  laser  printers  for 
readable,  camera-ready  output.  In  short,  anyone 
who  values  output  with  a  high-quality  appear- 
ance should  consider  a  laser  printer.  Computer 
hobbyists  who  primarily  print  program  listings 
might  be  better  ofT sticking  with  their  trusty  Go- 
rilla Banana  printer. 


Printing  for  Dollars 

Generally,  you  can  spend  $2,000  (and  up)  on 
Hewlett-Packard  and  compatible  laser  printers, 
and  the  least  expensive  PostScript  models  arc 


about  $4,000.  Onlv  a  few  laser  printers  cost  more 
than  $20,000. 

The  cost  of  home  laser  printing  is  coming 
down.  In  September,  Hewlett-Packard  recog- 
nized the  home  laser-printer  market  when  it  re- 
leased the  LaserJet  IIP  ('F  stands  for  personal).  It 
lists  at  $1,695  but  will  probably  carry  a  S 1 ,200 
price  tag  on  the  street,  which  puts  it  well  within 
the  range  of  the  ink-jet  and  24-pin  dot-matrix 
printers.  The  drawbacks  of  this  machine  are  few: 
It  only  generates  four  pages  per  minute,  and  it 
has  a  limited  number  of  fonts.  For  home  com- 
puters, thougli.  the  IIP  looks  like  a  natural  win- 
ner. And,  if  the  past  is  any  indicator  of  the 
future,  this  printer  will  probably  face  stiff  compe- 
tition very  soon. 

Not  very  long  ago,  as  you  may  recall,  Apple 
released  a  printer  aimed  at  the  same  market:  the 
Apple  LaserWriter  IISC.  Considering  the  S2.800 
price  quoted  by  one  dealer,  it's  easy  to  see  why  it 
wasn't  finding  a  place  in  homes  across  America. 

Languages:  PostScript  Versus  PCL 

Althougli  a  few  laser  printers  come  with  special- 
ized languages  like  TEX  and  DDL,  these  arc  rela- 
tively rare.  There  are  two  basic  types  of  plain- 
vanilla  laser  printer  the  PostScript-compatible 
and  the  Hewlett- Packard -compatible.  Because 
they  were  available  early  in  the  market,  the  most 
popular  models  are  the  Apple  LaserWriter  (with 
PostScript)  and  the  Hewlett-Packard  LaserJet 
(which  uses  PCL).  PostScript  printers  arc  smart- 
er and  considerably  more  expensive  than  PCL 
printers  because  Adobe  Systems,  creator  and 


SHEDDING  LIGHT  ON  LASER  PRINTERS 


RUARY        1990  COMPUTE 


THE 


T 
T 


owner  of  the  PostScript  language,  charges  a 
heavy  premium  for  using  the  language  on  a 
printer. 

What  is  PostScript?  It's  a  computer  language 
not  very  different  from  BASIC.  The  PostScript 
laser  printer  accepts  instructions  from  the  com- 
puter as  ASCII  symbols,  interprets  them  (Just  as 
a  computer  interprets  a  BASIC  program),  and 
then  tells  the  printer  engine  how  to  draw  the  im- 
age on  the  paper.  A  PostScript  file  is  sent  to  the 
printer  as  a  series  of  instructions:  Draw  a  line 
from  this  point  to  that  point,  or  begin  text  at  this 
point  and  use  this  font.  Because  of  its  dependence 
on  a  stream  of  ASCII  text  from  the  computer,  a 
PostScript  printer  can  be  very  slow,  PostScript 
may  be  a  logical,  ingenious  way  to  tell  the  printer 
what  to  do,  but  it  slows  down  your  processing 
speed. 

The  only  serious  alternative  to  PostScript 
printers  are  Hewlett-Packard-compatible  print- 
ers, which  use  PCL  (Printer  Control  Language) 
to  transmit  information  to  the  printer.  These 
printers  are  much  dumber  than  PostScript  print- 
ers, which  only  means  that  your  program  must 
interpret  the  printing  instructions. 

PostScript  printers  are  typically  shipped 
with  out  line  fonts  in  ROM,  These  describe  an 
ideal  font  which  the  PostScript  language  then  ad- 
justs in  size  and  density  according  to  the  infor- 
mation sent  by  the  computer.  PCL  printers  like 
the  Star  and  the  Hewlett-Packard  typically  have 
only  two  or  three  fonts,  such  as  Courier  (a  type- 
writerlike font)  and  line  printer  (a  smaller,  less 
attractive  font)  and  occasionally  a  Times  font. 
Cartridges  are  available  with  additional  fonts. 
Another  way  to  obtain  additional  fonts  is  with 
font  packages  like  Bitstream  Fontware  or  Font- 
Packs  from  VS  Software.  They  offer  wide  selec- 
tions of  highly  attractive  fonts. 


How  Does  It  Work? 


Inside  the  laser  printer's  engine  is  a  laser  beam 
and  a  drum  (some  printer  drums  are  actually 
belts).  The  surface  of  the  drum  is  coated  with  a 
compound  that  is  ionized  by  light.  The  drum  Is 
analogous  to  the  page  you  are  printing.  The  la- 
ser scans  the  drum,  applying  an  electrical  charge 
to  ttie  scanned  area. 

The  drum  is  exposed  to  a  fine  powder 
called  toner,  which  clings  to  the  scanned, 
charged  areas  of  the  drum.  Then  electrically 
charged  paper  passes  by  the  drum.  The  paper  is 
more  highly  charged  than  the  dmm,  so  the  toner 
is  transferred  to  the  paper  electrostatically.  The 
paper  is  then  heated.  When  the  toner  melts,  it 
binds  to  the  paper.  The  drum  is  then  scrapsed 
clean  and  its  residual  charge  is  led  away  by  Bny 
wires.  After  this  process,  the  drum  is  ready  to  be 
scanned  by  the  laser  to  create  the  next  page. 


Deciding  Factors 

Whether  you  opt  for  PostScript  or  not  will  de- 
pend on  your  computer,  your  applications,  and 
your  needs.  There  are  ways  to  use  a  PCL  printer 
with  a  Macintosh,  but  Mac  owners  would  be  wis- 
er to  go  the  PostScript  path.  If  you  use  a  graph- 
ics-intensive package  that  outputs  PostScript 
files,  you  should  also  consider  a  PostScript  print- 
er. And  finally,  because  PostScript  was  designed 
as  a  graphics  language,  you  should  consider  a 
PostScript  printer  if  your  output  is  primarily 
graphics. 

If  you  will  be  using  your  laser  printer  like  a 
daisywheel  printer,  if  you  don't  need  many  fonts, 
or  if  low  price  is  more  important  to  you  than  fea- 
tures, PCL  printers  will  probably  be  your  best 


How  Much  Is  This  Monster  Really 
Going  to  Cost? 


The  canny  shopper  will  remember  that  every  pur- 
chase has  hidden  costs.  Your  laser  printer  will  in- 
cur two  ongoing  expenses:  toner  and  paper. 
These  costs  will  depend  almost  entirely  on  how 
often  you  use  your  printer. 

Use  photocopy  paper;  it's  available  at  busi- 
ness outlets  everywhere.  You  will  pay  between  $3 
and  $'1 0  per  ream  (a  ream  is  450-500  sheets  of 
paper).  You  would  be  wise  to  use  top-quality, 
name-brand  paper. 

Toner  cartridges  cost  between  $80  and  $100. 
They  hold  up  for  about  3000  pages.  That  comes  to 
just  over  3  cents  per  page  on  top  of  the  cost  of 
the  paper.  If  you  print  graphics  with  iarge  black 
areas,  the  toner  will  run  out  faster.  On  the  ottier 
hand,  if  you  print  mainly  text,  your  cartridge  will 
probably  last  longer. 

Whether  you  should  refill  toner  cartridges  is  a 
matter  of  dispute.  Some  manufacturers  warn  that 
this  practice  jeopardizes  the  printer.  Having  seen 
refilled  cartridges  fail,  I  can  assure  you  that  a 
streaked,  smudged  laser-printed  page  is  worse 
than  no  page  at  ail.  If  you  want  to  try  it,  though, 
expect  to  pay  about  $50.  f^any  computer  publica- 
tions feature  advertisements  from  companies  that 
offer  this  service. 


When  you  replace  the  cartridge,  you  must  go 
through  a  complicated  cleaning  ritual  involving  cot- 
ton swabs  and  specialized  brushes.  Everything 
you  need  is  included  either  with  the  toner  cartridge 
(if  it's  new)  or  inside  the  laser  printer  itself.  If  you 
don't  observe  the  cleansing  ritual,  you'll  eventually 
find  clots  of  paper  fibers  and  toner  in  inconvenient 
places. 

The  bottom  line  is  that  if  you  print  a  ream  of 
paper  a  month,  you'll  pay  around  $72  for  paper 
and  around  $200  for  printer  cartridges  each  year 
(this  puts  the  cost  of  operation  at  about  $22.75  per 
ream  of  paper). 

The  life  span  of  the  print  engine  brings  up  an- 
other hidden  cost.  It  won't  last  forever,  fvlost  are 
rated  at  between  300,000  and  500,000  pages 
(though  some  manufacturers  claim  that  their  print 
engines  live  through  millions  of  pages).  At  500 
pages  a  month,  you'll  wear  out  your  print  engine 
after  600-1000  months,  a  period  of  about  50-83 
years. 

To  determine  your  annual  cost  of  operation, 
multiply  $272  (the  yearly  cost  of  paper  and  toner  if 
you  print  only  one  ream  of  paper  each  month)  by 
the  number  of  reams  of  paper  you  print  per  month. 
This  figure  represents  a  rough  estimate,  of  course. 


54      COMPUTEI 


F    E 


RUARY        1990 


GUARANTEED. 


We  invite  you  to  prepare  your  1989  personal 
income  tax  return  with  our  easy-to-use  CPA 
designed  program.  PERSONAL  TAX 
Preparer  will: 

■  Calculate  and  print  your  Federal  Income  Tax 
Return  including:  Form  1040,  Schedules  A,  B,  C  D, 
D-1,  E,  F,  R,  SE  and  Forms  1 1 16,  2106,  21 19,  2210, 
2441.3903,  4136,4137.  4562,  4684,  4797.  4835, 
4868,4970,4972,5329,  6251,  8396,  8582,  8606, 
8615,  8801,  8808,  8814,  as  well  as  many  supporting 
worksheets. 

■  Print  ail  forms  and  schedules  in  IRS  approved 
format.  Print  graphic  reproductions  of  Form  1040  on 
your  laser,  graphic  dot-matrix  or  compatible  printer. 
We  also  include  pin-feed  1040  forms  that  work  with 
all  other  printers. 

■  Guide  you  every  step-of-the  way  with  "on-line" 
help  windows  that  provide  easy-to-understand 
explanations,  relevant  IRS  Publication 
numbers  and  toll  free  IRS  Tele-Tax  numbers. 

Plus,  you  get  a  wealth  of  additional  features: 

■  "What-if  processor  -  Change  any  information  and 
instantly  see  the  effect  on  your  tax  situation. 
Estimate  your  1990  taxes. 

■  Financial  Calculator  —  Figure  interest  rates,  loan 
payments,  balloon  payments,  loan  balances,  interest 
earned,  and  savings  and  investment  future  values. 
Print  amortization  and  accumulation  schedules. 

■  Much  More  —  Pop-up  arithmetic  calculator,  note 
pad,  and  mouse  support.  Import  data  directly  from 
our  popular  MoneyCounts  accounting  software. 


Whether  you  do  your  own  return,  want  to  check  on 
your  tax  preparer  or  want  to  plan  your  1990  lax 
situation,  PERSONAL  TAX  PREPARER  is  for  you. 

Examine  Personal  Tax  Preparer's  manual  at  no  risl<.  If 
you're  not  100%  satisfied,  return  tlie  program  wittiin  30 
days(witlr  disic  seat  unbroken)  for  a  complete  refund 

(excluding  shipping). 

Personal  Tax  Preparer  win  be  shipped  in  early 

January,  1990.  To  reserve  your  copy,  call  us  anytime  at: 

1-800-779-6000 

VISA,  MAS  IHRCARD.  &  COD  orders  welcome. 
(In  Canada  call  319-395-7300.) 

FAX:,T19-,19S-()217 

Or  send  a  check  or  money  order 
payable  to  Parsons  Technology. 


375  Collins  Road  NE 

Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa  52402  USA 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  13S 


;^W^£4^ 


DEPT.  COM 

375  Collins  Road  NE 

Cedar  Rapids.  Iowa  524tJ2  USA 

NAME ^ 


'1990  PERSONAL^ 
TAX  PREPARER 

$49  +  $5  shipping 

NOT  COPY  PROTECTED 
FREE  TECHNICAL  SUPPORT 


ADDRESS. 


CITY. 


STATt/ZlP^ 


.PHONE- 


checkQ  money  order  n  visaD  mastercard  D 


CARD  #- 


.  E.XP.DATE- 


PersonalTax  PbE!'.-\rer  requires  an  IBM/Tandy/Compaq  or  com- 

palililt;  compultT.  .''K'lK  or  more  RAM  and  DOS  2.U  or  higticr.  Add 

S5  stiipping,  handling — Slrt  outside  North  America.  Iowa  residents, 

I     plea.se  add  4'?i  sales  lax.  j 


Laser  Quiz 


Now  tiiat  we've  covered  the  features  of  laser  printers, 
lets  decide  whether  you  need  one  for  your  home.  To 
find  out,  take  this  quiz.  Choose  the  best  answer  for 
you;  the  number  In  parentheses  represents  your  score 
for  each  question. 

1  .What  level  of  text  quality  do  you  require? 

■  Legible  (1) 

■  Legible  with  control  over  italics  and  boldface  (2) 

■  Sharp  with  a  choice  of  typeface,  size,  and  style  (3) 
■Sharp  enough  to  withstand  reproduction  for  desktop 

publishing  (4) 

2.  What  quality  of  graphics  do  you  require? 
■Graphics  quality  is  unimportant  (1) 

■  Simple,  draft-quality  graphics  (2) 
■Camera-ready  line  drawings  and  bitmapped 

graphics  (3) 
■Camera-ready  photographs  and  other  detailed 
graphics  (4) 

3.  How  important  is  print  speed? 

■  Of  no  importance  (1) 

■  Not  very  important  (2) 

■  Vfery  important,  but  quality  is  more  important  (3) 

■  Maximum  speed  is  essential  (4) 

4.  How  well  can  you  tolerate  loud,  unpleasant  noises 
while  you  work? 

■  Would  you  mind  repeating  that — a  little  louder  this 
lime?  (1) 

■  E  have  ear  plugs;  I  can  cope  (2) 

■  Noise  irritates  me,  but  it's  not  unbearable  (3) 

■  My  home  office  must  be  very  quiet  (4) 


5.  How  much  money  can  you 

spend  initially? 

■  Zilch  (1) 

■  I  have  a  good  income,  and 
I'm  investing  most  of  it  in 
my  family  (2) 

■  I'm  willing  to  pay  for  quality, 
even  if  it  means  going  into 
debt  (3) 

■  Money  is  no  object  (4) 

6.  How  much  can  you  afford  to 
spend  on  upkeep  and  con- 
tinuing costs? 

■  Zilch  (1) 

■  Up  to  $20  per  month  (2) 

■  S20-$50  per  month  (3) 
■The  sky's  the  limit  (4) 

7.  Are  you  a  technofreak  and 
do  you  buy  new  technology 
the  minute  it  comes  out? 

■  I  don't  trust  technology  (1) 

■  I  am  if  a  Commodore  PET  is 
considered  emerging  tech- 
nology (2) 

■  It's  all  I  can  do  to  keep  up, 
but  I  like  new  things  (3) 

■  I  just  purchased  a  NeXT  and 
a  second  WORM  drive  (4) 


56       COMPUTE 


8.  How  vrould  you  describe  your  desire  to  own  a  per- 
sonal laser  printer? 

■  Mild  (1) 
■Tolerable  (2) 

■  Acute  (3) 

■  Desperate  (4) 

9.  How  often  and  how  far  do  you  move  your  printer? 

■  My  computer,  printer,  and  I  are  frequent  filers  (1) 

■  My  printer  often  travels  back  and  forth  between 
home  and  office  (2) 

■  Occasionally,  from  room  to  room  (3) 
■Only  enough  to  dust  (4) 

10.  Essay  CXiestion.  For  extra  aedit,  in  100  words  or  less, 
write  a  short  essay  intended  to  convince  your  spouse 
or  significant  other  that  your  budget  can  easily  absorb 
the  cost  and  upkeep  of  a  laser  printer. 


Scoring  Your  Quiz 

If  you  scored  9-17  points,  maybe  the  computer  age 
isn't  for  you,  let  alone  the  laser  printer.  Consider  the 
space,  atomic,  machine,  dark,  iron,  bronze,  or  stone 
ages. 

If  you  scored  18-26  points,  odds  are  that  another  type 
of  printer  will  tjetter  suit  your  needs  or  budget.  A  nine- 
pin  dot-matrix  will  give  you  draft-quality  to  near-letter- 
quality  text,  plus  some  draft-quality  graphics.  Some 
people  use  these  printers  to  compose  their  printed 
projects  and  then  rent  time  at  a  laser-printing 

service  for  the  final  version. 
For  people  who  print  no 
graphics  at  all,  a  daisywheel 
printer  offers  letter-quality  text 
for  an  affordable  price. 

If  you  scored  27-33  points, 
take  a  serious  look  at  laser 
printers.  There's  probably  one 
out  there  that  meets  your 
needs  and  fits  your  budget. 
But  there  are  other  options 
that  are  cheaper.  Examine  the 
ink-jet  printers  from  Hewlett- 
Packard  and  the  24-pin  dot- 
matrix  printers  from  just  about 
anyone.  You'll  sacrifice  quiet 
and  speed,  but  you'll  save 
money. 

If  you  scored  34  points  or 
more,  what  are  you  waiting 
for?  Get  out  there  and  start 
shopping.  Technofreaks  might 
even  seek  out  the  color  laser 
printers  that  are  on  the  market 
now. 


a  Harley  in  style. 


Hat 

$2 

Sunglasses 

$U 

Bird-bone  C)x)ker 

$225 

Bear-claw  Pendant 

S95 

Rani  'sljead  Necl^iece 

$250 

Quillwoi-k  Medicine  Pouch 

$125 

Suspended 

$225 

Bear-Jaw  Knife 

$125 

Rctitiesnake-I}ead 

Key  Chain 

$20 

Duster 

SlOO 

Long  Underwear 

$25 

Haiiey-Dat  'idson* 

Heiitage  Softail*  Classic 

$11,000 

leans 

$30 

Boots 

S95 


Empty-  your  wallet  or  fill  your  imagmatiois 
Become  a  Harley  biker  ;is  you  play  the  ga 
that  could  make  you  an  American  legend. 

Compete  in  fl^-e  biker  contests  guaranteeil 
CO  test  your  skills  and  challenge  your 
stamina.  It's  all  in  the  attitude. 


\iM  >tjyr  trtailer.  lb  pucchxst  h)  ni.i]l>  H-ild  iiiur  at.-ilil  card  nunilxT  and  c\pira[k)n  daltr  of  sciid  .-!  chLXk  or  raomn'  ordtrr  to  Mindscapc  Inc..  PO.  Btix  1167.  NorltibnKjk.  11.  WKltiS 
IBM'  Tandy*:  S39.95,  Amis.!"  and  Atari'  Sr":  >-i9,y5. 1'kisc  jdd  yoc)  hm^ing  and  allcw  .^-5  ftvtto  ttr delhcri- I.a\v>c[s  likt- Uiis part:  Copyrigh!  c  WK")  .Mind.scipe  Inc.  .-HI  rijjus  ivstrrvvd 
Harlt'^-r>j\idsf?rL-Hailt:v:  ;md  Stiitail  arc  rt.-j:i?*tt'rtd  tradeniark-%  iif  Karfe>-.Da\1d.^n.  Inc.  IBM  is  a  rc^isltird  irademart:  of  International  Business  Machines  Corp  Ta[Hl>'is  a  regLstt-rcd  iradi-mark  uf 
lantl)*  <^*fp-  ..VrajEgaisa  fradcnufkotXDnmUKiorc-.Vimjij  Inc.  .\tari  is  a  rcgistca-d  trHdt-niiirk.  anJSr  is  a  trademark  of  Atari  Qjtp.  Circle  Reader  Servks  Number  121 


THE 


T 
LI6HT 


choice.  Generally,  however,  the  PCL  printer  can 
print  anything  a  PostScript  printer  can  print,  as- 
suming your  software  supports  PCL  printers. 

If  you  buy  a  PCL  printer  and  have  second 
thoughts  later,  there  is  a  conversion  kit  that  adds 
PostScript  capability,  but  you'll  spend  neariy  as 
much  installing  this  kit  as  you  would  on  the  dif- 
ference between  the  printer  types. 

Just  as  an  aside,  I  should  tell  you  that  it  is 
possible  to  use  an  .Apple  LaserWriter  with  a  PC 
without  installing  an  AppleTalk  card  (an  inter- 
face card  that  lets  the  PC  communicate  with  the 
Apple  printer).  Dealers,  either  through  ignorance 
or  mendacity,  will  insist  you  need  to  buy  this 
card,  but  a  specially  designed  serial  cable  will 
accompUsh  the  same  end  at  a  much  lower  cost. 
Check  the  LaserWriter  manual  for  the  cable 
specification.  Beware,  though,  of  the  information 
for  setting  up  your  serial  pori  on  the  PC.  Laser- 
Writer manuals  (once  again,  either  through  igno- 
rance or  mendacity)  have  given  incorrect  instruc- 
tions. They  specify  seven  bits,  but  you  should 
enter  the  number  8  in  the  bits  position  in  your 
MODE  command.  I  imagine  this  combination  of 
misinformation  has  sold  quite  a  large  number  of 
AppleTalk  cards. 

Speed  and  Resolution 

The  typical  laser  printer  prints  at  an  advertised 
rate  of  8  ppm  (pages  per  minute),  which  usually 
works  out  to  6  ppm  in  real  life.  This  rate  refers  to 
the  speed  at  which  the  printer  will  turn  out  iden- 
tical pages.  This  measure  doesn't  take  into  ac- 
count the  time-consuming  process  by  which  the 
printer  or  computer  composes  the  page.  If  you 
print  consecutive  pages  of  a  manuscript,  for  in- 
stance, the  speed  drops  considerably.  Print  speed 
is  like  gas  mileage;  what  the  manufacturer  lists  is 
never  what  you  get  in  the  real  world. 

Although  the  printer  can  generate  text  at  8 
ppm,  a  page  of  graphics  can  take  ten  minutes  or 
more.  A  page  of  text  is  mostly  white  space;  the 
letters  take  up  a  relatively  small  part  of  the  page. 
With  graphics,  this  speed  has  no  meaning. 

Much  faster  laser  printers  are  available: 
Printronix  has  announced  a  12-ppm  PostScript 
model.  The  price:  nearly  $8,000.  Xerox  Canada 
has  developed  50-ppm  and  92-ppm  models.  Ob- 
viously, these  are  for  output-intensive  applica- 
tions rather  than  for  personal  use. 

All  of  the  most  popular  brands  print  at  a 
density  of  300  dpi  (dots  per  inch),  for  a  total  of 
90,000  individual  dots  per  square  inch.  A  few  la- 
ser printers  will  give  you  400  dpi  ( 1 60,000  dots 
per  square  inch)  and  600  dpi  (360,000  dots  per 
square  inch).  For  higher  resolutions,  you  will 
need  a  Linotronic  typesetter  at  a  print  shop 
(minimum  resolution:  1 200  dpi).  Don't  worry, 
though.  Most  people  are  satisfied  with  300  dpi. 

Memory 

If  you  print  text  exclusively,  you  will  probably 
need  a  minimal  amount  of  RAM,  512K  in  most 
cases.  But  if  you  print  only  text,  you  could  save  a 
considerable  amount  of  money  by  purchasing  a 
dot-matrix  or  daisywheel  printer.  If  you  print 
graphics,  or  if  you  download  many  fonts,  you 
want  a  laser  printer  with  a  lot  of  additional  mem- 
ory. A  Hewlett-Packard  with  512K  will  manage 
about  half  a  page  of  graphics  before  returning  a 
printer  error. 


Like  every  other  kind  of  memory,  laser- 
printer  enhancement  cards  are  exorbitantly  ex- 
pensive. Slowly  but  surely,  the  price  is  falling. 
This  winter,  the  prices  ranged  from  $300  for  one 
megabyte  to  $900  for  four  megabytes.  All  prices 
quoted  here  are  rock-bottom  mail-order  prices. 
You  can  pay  as  much  money  as  you  like  for  the 
comfort  of  having  a  local  dealer  stand  behind 
your  equipment. 

Will  you  need  a  hard  drive?  A  few  laser 
printers  offer  the  option  of  a  hard  disk,  primarily 
for  the  purpose  of  storing  additional  fonts.  With 
the  cost  of  these  printers  tending  toward  five  fig- 
ures, most  home  users  will  probably  pass  on  this 
option. 

Two  Bins  or  Not  Two  Bins 

Many  laser  printers  support  multiple  paper  bins. 
One  bin  holds  plain  bond  paper  for  drafts  and 
more  casual  correspondence,  and  another  bin 
holds  finer  paper  for  more  formal  communica- 
tions. You  can  easily  remove  the  paper  trays  and 
insert  different  grades  of  paper.  In  a  personal  la- 
ser printer,  this  feature  won't  be  very  useful.  If 
you  are  in  law,  however,  a  second  paper  tray  for 
14-inch  paper  would  make  sense.  Most  printers 
also  support  manual  feed  for  the  occasional  job 
that  requires  a  different  paper  altogether.  And  if 
you  engage  in  a  great  deal  of  correspondence, 
consider  an  envelope  tray. 

Bells  and  Whistles 

You  may  not  believe  this  now,  but  indicator 
lights  can  make  or  break  your  laser-printing  suc- 
cess. The  Hewlett-Packard  and  its  compatibles 
communicate  with  you  through  a  collection  of 
colored  lights  and  an  LCD  display.  The  Apple 
LaserWriter  uses  a  set  of  enigmatic  lights. 

The  most  common  problem  you  wiU  en- 
counter is  an  empty  paper  tray.  Many  printers 
halt,  turn  on  a  light,  and  display  the  message  PA- 
PER OUT  on  the  LCD  display.  Unless  you 
watch  the  lights  or  check  the  message  board, 
you'll  probably  think  the  printer  has  stopped  be- 
cause the  print  job  has  completed.  If  the  printer 
you  buy  uses  an  audible  signal  to  alert  you  to 
problems  (as  the  Star  does),  you  are  more  likely 
to  quickly — and  correctly--diagnose  the  prob- 
lem and  continue  with  your  work. 

One  Last  Consideration 

If  you're  considering  a  laser  printer  for  the  home, 
take  a  cautious  posture.  If  the  LaserJet  IIP  wows 
the  market,  a  flood  of  low-cost,  feature-packed 
home  laser  printers  will  likely  follow.  Already, 
IBM  is  expected  to  announce  a  5 12K  printer 
with  1 3  fonts  that  will  generate  six  pages  per 
minute.  Best  of  all,  it  will  cost  less  than  the  cur- 
rent list  price  of  the  Hewlett-Packard  IIP.  IBM  is 
also  planning  a  midrange  printer  priced  around 
$2,000  and  a  PostScript  printer  for  around 
$3,000. 

This  competition  from  industry-leader  IBM 
could  revolutionize  the  price  structures  of  laser- 
printer  manufacturers  in  the  next  few  months, 
making  personal  laser  printing  more  feasible 
than  ever,  B 

Robert  Bixby  is  an  editor  and  award-winning  writer.  His 
latest  book  is  Quick  and  Easy  Guide  to  Ventura  Publish- 
er, from  COMPUTE!  Bool<s. 


SS      COMPUTE 


FEBRUARY       1990 


=«>KJWJ 


^ri^ 


'"***-. 


i*^ 


FW-:^Nfe 


^^^^  \\ 


r^^T 


Konami 
Jliringing  hot  shots 
IHceyou  down  to  earth.  • 

It's  time  to  get  your  head  out  of  ttie  clouds. 
";^jn>-, "  '^  Because  Konami  Is  zeroing  in  on  you  witti  AJAX"  and  Life  Force;" 
^7  «'  "    two  explosive  new  computer  games. 

y '  In  AJAX  you'll  command  the  world's  hottest  lighters,  dogfighting     ^ 

•■'to  the  death  with  planes,  tanks,  ships  and  an  armada  of  UFOs  loaded  with  surprise  ■- 
attacks.  While  in  Life  Force  you'll  duel  with  Zelos,  an  all-enguKing,  planet-eating  alien 
TT  ^'  who's  hungering  to  take  a  bite  out  of  your  plutonium-packed  star  cruiser 

■^  So,  if  you  think  you're  the  hottest  lighter  jock  ^        M^^%MMJt  MMfM* 

."^  ever  to  blister  the  skies  with  a  heat  seeking  missile,  ^^W7  Mm^^mMr^MWmW 

'•;     take  a  Shot  at  AJAX  and  Life  Force.  ^f^     c  ,989Kon™,inc,9oonc.rt,dup,-„k«ay    .. 

But  be  warned.  The  lirst  thing  to  go  down  in  ouifaioGra»B.iLeQ089-4&io.(3i2i2i5-5iii 

liames  will  be  your  ego. 

AJAX  is  available  tot  Commodore.  Ainign.  IBM  / 1 00%  cump,ilihlB  compulers.  LileKorce  is  avail.nblo  lor  Commodore  only. -AJAX'"  and  Ute  Force"  are  Ifadeinarits  of" 
Konami'  is  a  registered  iradcmark  ol  Konami  Induslry  Co.  Lid-  •  IBM '  is  a  nigislered  (radom.irk  of  Inlernallonal  Business  Machines  Inc.  ■  Commodore"  Is  a  n 
irademark  dI  Commodore  Eleclronics  Ud  •  Amiga  IS  a  registered  Irademark  ol  Commodore- Amifla.  Jnc  -c  1989  Konami  Inc 


Clrcle  Reader  Servica  Numlwr'ISZ 


PRODUCTIVITY 


PC  PRIMER 


HINTS 


AND 


TIPS 


FROM         OUR 


READERS 


Tired  of  typing  the  same 
commands  over  and 
over  again?  How  would 
you  like  to  never  type 
CDC:\SCALC5\ 
WSHEETSM989\ 
NOV  \  PERSONAL 
again?  You  have  the  tools 
to  create  your  own  macro 
keys  right  on  vour  DOS 
disk. 
The  first  thing  that  you'll  need  to 
do  is  make  sure  your  system  loads  the 
ANSI  driver.  From  the  root  director^'. 
type  TYPE  CONFIG.SYS  and  then 
press  the  Enter  kev.  If  you  sec  a  line 
that  says  DEVICE=ANSI.SYS,  it 
means  the  ANSI  driver  loads  upon 
power-up.  If  not,  type  COPY  CON- 
FIG.SYS +  CON  and  press  Enter, 
type  DEVICE =ANSI.SYS  and  press 
Enter,  and  then  press  Ctrl-Z  and  En- 
ter. Make  sure  that  the  file  .A.NSI.SYS 
is  in  the  root  director^'.  Finally,  reboot 
your  system  to  load  the  .ANSI  driver. 
I've  used  the  Edlin  editor  for  this 
explanation  since  it  comes  with  MS- 
DOS  and  because  ii  allows  you  to  en- 
ter the  necessar>'  escape  codes.  Refer 
to  your  MS-DOS  manual  for  com- 
plete instructions  on  using  Edlin. 

You'll  need  to  create  a  batch  file 
to  store  your  new  key  definitions.  To 
create  the  file,  type  EDLIN 
filenaine.BAT. 

Let's  Stan  by  programming  the 
F!0  key  to  produce  a  directory.  .At  the 
Edlin  *  prompt,  type  II  and  hit  Enter. 
You  should  now  see  l*".  First  type 
ECHO,  press  the  space  bar,  and  then 
press  Control-V  followed  by  two  [ 
(open  bracket)  characters.  The  next 
time  that  you  list  this  line,  the  Kwill 
not  be  visible,  and  instead  of'K[[, 
you  will  sce*[[.  Continuing  on  the 
same  line,  type  0;68;"DIR";13p  indi- 
cating that  the  FIO  key  {0;68)  will  be 
defined  as  DIR.  The  13  represents  a 
carriage  return,  the  same  as  hitting 
Enter.  The  last  character,  a  lowercase 
p.  denotes  the  end  of  the  message.  The 
function  keys  are  defined  as  0;59 
through  0;68  for  Fl  through  FIO.  re- 
spectively. Press  Enter  and  then  Con- 
trol-C.  You  should  be  back  at  the  * 


prompt.  Type  E  and  then  press  Enter 
to  exit  Edlin  and  write  the  file  to  disk. 

Back  at  the  DOS  prompt,  type 
the  filename  without  the  BAT  exten- 
sion. Now  press  FIO.  If  your  editing 
was  accurate,  the  current  directory 
should  be  displayed. 

Be  careful,  though.  If  you  usually 
use  the  F7  key  to  exit  your  word  pro- 
cessor and  you've  redefined  F7  to 
print  your  cat's  name,  you  won't  be 
able  to  get  out.  You'll  want  to  create  a . 
batch  file  that  restores  any  of  your  re- 
definitions so  that  programs  which 
use  the  altered  keys  can  function  nor- 
mally. For  instance,  to  restore  F7  to 
its  normal  state,  vou'd  type  ECHO 
(Ciri-V)[[0;65;0;65p  in  the  batch  file. 
The  0  in  place  of  the  key  definition 
sets  the  key  back  to  its  original  state. 


Programs  you  use  often  can  be 
run  with  a  single  keystroke  with  this 
technique.  If  you  run  Wordstar  from  a 
directory  named  'WS,  you  can  pro- 
gram the  F9  key  to  run  the  program 
from  any  drive  or  director^'  by  adding 
this  line  to  your  batch  file:  ECHO 
(Ctrl-V)[[0:67;*'C:";13;"CD 
C:\WS";13;"'WS":13p. 


Try  to  keep  your  definitions  fair- 
ly short.  If  your  definitions  exceed  200 
characters,  they  will  begin  to  overiay 
COMMAND.COM  creating  undesir- 
able and  unpredictable  results. 
Richard  C.  Leinecker 
Winston-Salem,  NC 

CHKDSK  Rescues  Lost  Clusters 

It's  not  uncommon  to  receive  this 
message  from  DOS; 

3  lost  clusters  found  in  1  chains. 
Convert  lost  chains  to  file?  (Y/N) 

Relax — thougli  confusing,  this  mes- 
sage doesn't  spell  disaster. 

On  a  PC  or  compatible,  a  cluster 
consists  of  two  disk  sectors.  Two  sec- 
tors are  grouped  to  form  a  cluster, 
which  is  the  minimum  amount  of 
disk  space  that  the  PC  uses  to  store 
data.  Ordinarily,  the  storage  for  a  file 
consists  of  a  chain  of  clusters.  In  nor- 
mal usage,  files  grow  and  shrink  and 
the  clusters  become  more  scattered. 
DOS  keeps  track  of  where  these  clus- 
ters are  located  so  the  files  arc  still 
usable.  If  you  enter  the  command 
CHKDSK  *.*,  DOS  prints  a  list  of  all 
the  files  with  clusters  found  in  sepa- 
rate places  on  the  disk.  If  the  file  is 
fragmented,  the  drive  heads  will  have 
to  travel  a  lot  to  read  the  file. 

The  easiest  way  to  consolidate  a 
fragmented  file  is  to  copy  it  to  another 
disk. 

Occasionally,  DOS  gets  confused 
and  loses  track  of  a  cluster.  This  is  the 
case  with  the  lost  clusters  reported  by 
CHKDSK.  However  you  respond  to 
the  computer's  question,  you  will  still 
receive  the  same  message  the  next 
time  you  run  CHKDSK. 

However,  if  you  type  CHKDSK 
/F  (for  Fix)  and  answer  No  to  the 
same  question,  the  lost  clusters  will  be 
written  over  and  the  information  they 
contained  will  be  gone.  If  you  answer 
Yes,  the  clusters  will  be  made  into 
files  named  FILEnnnn.CHK.  You  can 
examine  these  files  to  see  if  they  con- 
tain anything  you  want  to  keep. 
Tony  Roberts 
Greensboro,  NC  0 


60       COMPUTE! 


FEBRUARY       1990 


Sam's  trying  to  keep  his  head. 
Literally.  But  in  Sword  of  the 
Samurai,  he's  up  to  his  neck 
in  trouhle. 

As  cin  ambitious  young 
Samurai,  you  struggle  to  move 
up  the  military  and  social 
ladder  in  16th  Century  Japan. 
Defending  your  honor  is  crucial 


1 1  ■  ;!rdnija  saiTKfl'-at 
me  i>aiii,  Veil  WW  to 

^311  tzW  Uy  his  ?taiK; 


to  achieving  your 
ultimate  goal:  to 
become  Shogun, 
ruler  of  the  realm! 
But  every  step  of  the 
way,  you'll  be  opposed 
by  ambitious  enemy 
Samurai,  each  of  whom 
employs  a  different 
scheme  to  deceive  and 
destroy  you. 

To  survive,  you'U 
need  your  wits  as  weU 
as  your  weapons.  You 
must  outsmeirt  clever 
political  rivals  who  smQe 
to  your  face,  then  work 
behind  yo\ir  back  to 
blacken  your  reputation, 
kidnap  your  family  or  raise 
armies  against  you. 


After  class, 

Sam  Bushnell 

will  duel  with 

a  Ninja, 

defend  his  honor, 

become  Shogun 

and  rule 
feudal  Japan. 

lust  for  fun. 


The  action  is  fast  and 
furious  as  you  take  on  multiple 
warriors  in  darkened  castles 
and  remote  vUlages.  You'll 
also  defend  your  honor  one-on- 
one,  using  authentic  Samurai 
swordplay  against  skOled 
opponents. 

Sword  of  the  Samurai  has 
starting  options  for  new  players 
Eind  four  skill  levels.  A  unique 

'K-M  .IJ-.:  .It  t«lJ  ».*>l'tf  Ol  Lo.  .1  J.i.'..i 1     .?^.^.>t.'  ttj^ 


system  of  menus  and  text 
windows  wiU  guide  you  in 
travel  and  bring  each  adven- 
ture to  life.  There's  even  a 
detailed  political  map  to  show 
you  different  provinces,  each 
ruled  by  its  own  warlord. 

AU  with  authentic  Japanese 
graphics  and  music,  the 
smoothest  animation,  as  well 
as  the  quick  thinking  and 
heart-racing  action  you've 
come  to  expect  from 
MicroProse. 

Remember,  in  Sword  of  the 
Samurai,  there's  more  than 
your  life  at  stake.  There's  your 
honor.  So  draw  your  sword 
and  sharpen  your  wits! 

Just  for  Am. 


ik 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^V^  >vJ^^^|  1 

fi^^~ 

s 

A 

m 

a 

R 

A 

I 

^^^^^hTaiic?^  vf?^n 

Canlflnd  SWORD  OF  TOE  SAMURAI?  Cal/|3(M)T7i-1T51  iSM.weeMays  B:3«  am  tnSiMW^ 

money  older  for  $34.95  (speclly  disk  size).  Free  shijiprng  in  U.S.  SS.W!  inlemational.  U.S.  liiocts  oniy.  MD  residents  M  3%  sales  tai.  MltroPnise 
Software,  Inc.;  ISO  Lakelrart  drive.  Hunt  Vjllev.  MD  ZIttM.  ferWM-KlXmVPSman&flQmfalililes.  Reij<tiiesW4klim.  Siipiuuls  MCGAIVGA.  EGA. 
CGA  anil  Heiailes  mphia. 


©  1889,  MJcroProae  Software,  Inc. 


,/ 


/M^DPROSE 


Just  For  Fun. 


Circle  Reader  Service  Number  144 


COMPUTE! 
CHOICE 


DENNY  ATKIN 


PRIVATE  EYES  LIVE 
TOUGH  IN  THE 
TWENTY-FIRST 
CENTURY 


The  air  was  so  thick  with 
suspense,  you  could  have 
spread  it  on  a  slice  of 
Wonder  Bread.  Scisco 
called  me  into  his  office. 
"Got  an  assignment  for 
you,"  he  said,  tossing  a 
dark  package  across  the 
room. 
'^Mean  Streets, "  he 
explained.  "New  one 
from  the  guys  at  Access.  Make  a  lot  of 
big  claims.  Could  be  a  COMPUTE! 
Choice  if  they're  on  the  straight  and 
narrow.  Check  il  out  and  give  me  a 
report." 

I  headed  back  to  my  office,  box 
in  hand.  ".4n  interactive  detective 
movie,"  the  cover  claimed.  Well, 
there  had  to  be  something  to  Mean 
Streets,  because  the  package  weighed 
me  down  like  sandbags  on  a  hot  air 
balloon.  I  sat  down  at  my  desk, 
shoved  aside  the  falcon  statue  Sam 
Spade  gave  me.  and  spread  out  the 
package  contents. 

Something  was  definitely  out  of 
the  ordinary.  The  box  had  the  usual 
manual,  quick-reference  card,  map, 
and  information  sheets.  But  it  also 
had  a  pamphlet  explaining  something 
called  RealSound  and  six  disks. 

They  say  a  good  detective  always 
starts  at  the  beginning,  so  I  installed 
the  program  on  my  VGA  PC's  hard 
drive.  As  the  computer  gronked  away, 
copying  six  5'/i-inch  floppies,  I  won- 
dered why,  if  bad  detectives  start  at 
the  end,  they  don't  finish  the  job 
sooner. 

I  figured  1  should  get  some  back- 
ground on  this  case,  so  I  checked  out 


the  manual.  Seems  I  was  supposed  to 
be  Tex  Murphy,  a  twenty-first-century 
private  detective  on  a  murder  case. 
Seems  the  whole  mess  started  with  a 
visit  from  Sylvia  Linsky.  the  beautiful 
daughter  of  Professor  Carl  Linsky.  She 
had  the  face  of  a  doll  and  eyes  bluer 
than  CGA  cyan — if  this  was  any  indi- 
cation of  how  this  game  was  going  to 
go,  I  thought,  this  could  be  fun. 

Old  man  Linsky  had  jumped  from 
the  Golden  Gate  Bridge,  but  Sylvia 
didn't  think  it  was  suicide.  Her  story 
didn't  convince  me  thai  it  was  a  mur- 
der, but  the  tears  running  from  her 
shiny,  almost  glassy  eyes  persuaded 
me  to  look  into  the  matter.  The  10  Gs 
she  waved  in  my  face  might  have  had 
something  to  do  with  my  decision,  too. 

Armed  with  the  info  Sylvia  gave 
me,  five  clues,  a  list  of  possible  ques- 
tions from  the  manual,  and  my  trusty 
.38  Special,  I  booted  the  game.  Appar- 
ently the  guys  at  Access  wanted  to 
make  sure  I  was  really  Murphy — I 
had  to  type  in  a  word  from  the  man- 
ual before  I  could  get  into  the 
program. 

When  the  opening  screen  came 
up,  I  was  as  pleased  as  a  cop  with  a  jel- 
ly doughnut.  It  wasn't  the  blood-red 
VG.A  sky  that  threw  me  for  a  loop,  it 
was  the  sound.  Having  been  up  and 
dovr-n  PC  Boulevard  many  times,  I  ex- 
pected beeps  and  bloops.  Instead,  I 
heard  a  digitized  rock  tunc.  It  was 
nothing  to  make  Tommy  Dorsey  ner- 
vous, but  it  was  worlds  ahead  of  what 
I  was  used  to  hearing  on  DOS 
machines. 

The  story  opened  in  the  driver's 
seat  of  my  Lotus  Speeder.  This  baby 
was  nothing  like  the  old  Packards  that 
1 930s  detectives  drove.  The  autopilot 
and  altimeter  were  dead  giveaways 
that  driving  this  set  of  wheels  would 
be  a  lot  like  flying  a  DC-3. 

I  needed  some  help  getting  the 
speeder  off  the  ground.  Hitting  H  on 
the  control  panel  brought  up  a  screen 
that  explained  the  controls.  Since  I 


62       COMPUTEI  FEBRUARY       1990 


had  ihe  list  of  five  Nav  Codes  from 
the  manual,  I  called  up  the  Naviga- 
tion Computer.  It  displayed  a  map  of 
California,  highlighting  my  current 
position.  I  punched  in  the  Nav  Code 
for  Sylvia  Linsky.  figuring  I'd  ask  her 
a  few  questions  about  her  father.  A 
crosshairs  pointer  highlighted  her  lo- 
cation and  then  the  computer  re- 
turned to  the  cockpit  view. 

I  could  have  used  autopilot  to  fly 
to  my  destination  automatically,  but  1 
wanted  to  see  how  this  baby  handled. 


The  mutants'  hideout  is  just  one  of  the 
many  colorful  settings  you'll  encounter. 


So,  I  took  off  on  manual. 

The  speeder  was  surprisingly  easy 
to  fly,  and  I  had  a  fantastic  view 
through  the  windows.  Looking  down 
over  San  Francisco,  I  noted  that  the 
solid-fill,  3-D  flight-simulatorgraphics 
in  Mean  Srreds  were  as  good  as  in 
most  dedicated  flight  simulators.  If 
the  rest  of  the  game  was  this  good,  it 
might  just  be  COMPUTE!  Choice 
material.  Not  only  was  this  machine 
easy  to  fly,  it  was  also  faster  than  a 
jack  rabbit  at  the  dog  track.  I  made  it 
from  San  Francisco  to  Los  Angeles  in 
just  over  a  minute. 

I  brought  the  speeder  down  on 
the  landing  pad  outside  Sylvia's  place. 
I  hit  kind  of  hard,  but  this  thing  was 
crashproof  Good  thing,  too.  1  was 
glad  I  wouldn't  need  flying  lessons  to 
drive  this  beauty. 

Once  1  got  out  of  the  speeder  I 
really  fell  into  my  role  as  Murphy. 
The  graphics  in  the  speeder  cockpit 
were  great,  but  when  I  saw  the  digi- 
tized picture  of  Sylvia's  apartment.  1 
couldn't  believe  I  was  playing  a  com- 
puter game.  Then  Sylvia  popped  up 


onscreen.  She  was  256  colors  of  ani- 
mated beauty.  .As  she  winked  at  me 
and  moistened  her  lips,  I  was  aston- 
ished. I'd  never  seen  digitized  graph- 
ics that  good. 

But  back  to  business.  I  was  there 
to  ask  questions,  to  get  leads.  Accord- 
ing to  the  Mean  Streets  manual,  I 
could  ask  people  about  any  names  I 
had  run  across  and  about  eight  myste- 
rious terms:  MTC  Corporation,  Gide- 
on Enterprises,  Overlord,  passcard, 
password,  NEXUS.  Law  and  Order, 
and  insurance.  While  that  seemed 
kind  of  limiting — Philip  Marlowe 
made  up  his  own  questions — it  did 
make  the  questioning  process  much 
smoother. 

Watching  Sylvia's  responses  to 
my  questions,  I  developed  a  healthy 
respect  for  the  guys  who  put  Mean 
Streets  together.  When  I  asked  Sylvia 
about  her  old  man's  insurance,  she  got 
real  defensive.  She  had  a  big  frown  on 
her  face.  I  asked  about  a  happier  sub- 
ject, and  she  smiled.  All  the  while  she 
blinked  her  baby  blues.  These  guys 
had  paid  attention  to  detail. 

I  thanked  Sylvia  for  her  time  and 
hopped  back  into  the  speeder.  .After 


FEBRUARY        1990 


C    O    M    P    U    T    E    I 


63 


#ENTER1AINIIIIENT 


questioning  a  few  other  people,  I  went 
over  my  notes.  So  far,  .\fean  Streets 
had  lived  up  lo  its  hype.  Everywhere  I 
went,  there  was  a  fantastic  digitized 
background.  Each  character  was  as 
realistically  animated  as  Sylvia.  How- 
ever, each  had  a  distinct  personality 
and  reacted  differently  to  my  ques- 
tions. Some  of  them  volunteered 
information  freely,  some  had  to  be 
bribed,  and  a  few  had  to  be  threatened 
into  spilling  their  guts.  I  learned  early 
on,  though,  not  to  threaten  the  wrong 
people.  Delores  Lightbody.  the  profes- 
sor's ex,  didn't  take  kindly  to  my 
pushy  behavior;  the  digitized  picture 
of  her  kicking  Murphy  was  enough  to 
make  me  flinch  in  real  life. 

As  I  cruised  over  to  Professor 
Linsky's  place  on  automatic  pilot,  I 
reconsidered  my  initial  enthusiasm 
for  the  speeder.  While  it  was  an  im- 
pressive mode  of  transportation,  this 
case  required  a  lot  of  travel.  Sitting  in 
the  speeder  for  more  than  a  minute, 
waiting  to  gel  to  your  next  destina- 
tion, was  about  as  exciting  as  staking 
out  a  mortuar\'.  On  the  other  hand,  I 
could  catch  up  on  True  Detective 
Monthly  while  the  speeder  flew  itself 

When  I  got  to  the  professor's 
place  and  stepped  out  of  the  speeder,  I 
wasn't  greeted  by  the  usual  digitized 


You'll  have  to  explore  this  subterranean 
laboratory  carefully  to  find  vital  clues. 

picture.  Instead,  I  found  myself  in  a 
dark  alleyway.  I  started  to  make  my 
way  across  the  screen  when  two 
trench-coated  creeps  jumped  out  and 
sprayed  me  with  Tommy  guns.  Luck- 
ily, I  could  duck  and  get  off  a  few 
rounds  of  my  own  that  literally  shat- 
tered the  bad  guys.  Before  I  could 
move  more  than  a  few  feet  forward, 
two  more  thugs  popped  out.  It  wasn't 
going  to  be  easy  to  get  into  this  place. 
Two  screens  and  about  50  rounds  of 
ammo  later,  my  way  was  clear.  If  I 
had  many  more  encounters  like  this,  I 
would  need  more  ammunition. 

In  the  apartment,  1  found  another 
suprise.  Unlike  the  other  places  I  had 
visited,  there  was  nobody  here  to 
question.  Instead.  I  was  in  a  3-D 


graphics  adventure  scene.  I  moved 
my  animated  figure  around  the  room 
using  the  cursor  keys.  Whenever  I  got 
near  an  object,  a  text  description  of  it 
appeared  at  the  bottom  of  the  screen, 
along  with  a  choice  of  actions,  such  as 
Open  or  Get. 

The  first  time  I  explored  the 
room.  1  found  a  lot  of  locked  doors 
and  cabinets,  but  no  keys.  I  had  to  be 
a  better  sleuth  if  I  was  going  to  un- 
cover any  clues,  so  I  tried  moving 
some  objects  and  looking  under  them. 
It's  amazing  where  some  people  will 
drop  keys,  and  you  find  the  most  un- 
expected things  under  fax  machines. 

While  checking  out  the  profes- 
sor's belongings,  I  accidentally  set  off 
an  alarm.  I  had  ten  minutes  to  find 
the  switch  to  shut  i(  off  or  I'd  be  ar- 
rested for  breaking  and  entering.  Un- 
fortunately, I  didn't  find  it  the  first 
time  around.  But.  fortunately,  I  had 
saved  the  game  before  entering  the 
room.  The  second  time  around.  I 
found  the  switch.  I  figured  that  there 
couldn't  be  obstacles  like  this  in  every 
room.  I  figured  wrong. 

1  found  a  lot  of  stuff  in  Linsky's 
apartment.  When  I  got  back  to  my 
speeder  and  looked  at  my  inventory.  I 
discovered  I  could  pawn  the  objects  I 
had  picked  up.  Since  the  bribes  had 
eaten  up  a  big  chunk  of  my  10-G  ad- 
vance. I  decided  this  would  be  a  good 
idea.  The  problem  was  how  to  tell  if 
an  object  was  an  important  clue  or  if 
it  should  be  pawned.  Trial  and  error 
showed  me  that  it  was  usually  safe  lo 
sell  the  stuff  that  was  worth  big  bucks, 
but  that  I'd  better  hang  on  to  the  rest. 

M  this  point.  I  had  a  lot  of  names 
without  addresses.  I  called  up  my 
trusly  assistant,  Vanessa,  on  the  vid- 
eophone. She  popped  up  onscreen, 
blew  me  a  kiss,  and  said,  "Hello. 
Tex."  Coming  from  my  HcadSiart 
Ill's  speaker,  her  voice  was  about  as 
lilting  as  Dr.  Ruth's  through  a  cheap 
transistor  radio.  I  made  a  note  lo  buy 
Access's  S9  cable  that  would  connect 
my  PC  lo  a  stereo  before  1  played  any 
more  games  with  RealSound.  My 
PC's  speaker  just  wasn't  good  enough 
lo  gel  the  full  effect.  Vanessa  faxed  me 
a  few  of  the  addresses  I  needed,  and  I 
bought  the  rest  at  ridiculous  prices 
from  Lee  Chin,  my  informant. 

The  investigation  became  com- 
fortably routine.  Whenever  I  talked  to 
a  new  person,  I  asked  about  all  of  the 
names  I  had  gathered,  plus  the  terms 
from  the  manual.  As  I  collected  more 
and  more  information,  it  became  ob- 
vious that  this  wasn't  just  a  routine 
murder  investigation.  Several  other 
prominent  scientists  had  died  myste- 


riously. Two  major  corporations,  the 
Law^  and  Order  political  party,  and 
several  people  in  low  places  were  tied 
in,  too.  I  was  hot  on  the  trail. 

.After  interrogating  about  40 
people,  surviving  a  number  of  gun- 
fights,  and  exploring  several  locations. 


Climb  in  your  Lotus  speeder  and  lly  over 
the  Golden  Gate  Bridge  at  high  altitudes. 

I  could  put  everything  together,  solve 
the  case,  and  save  the  world.  Bui  not 
before  I  made  a  lot  of  mistakes.  I  was 
glad  I  had  saved  my  position  on  disk 
frequently — I've  never  died  so  many 
limes  in  my  life. 

With  the  case  behind  me,  it  was 
time  to  write  out  my  report  for  Scisco. 
Alean  Streets  was  defmitely  COM- 
PUTE! Choice  material.  The  digitized 
graphics,  animation,  and  sound  broke 
new  ground  for  PC  games.  It  had  all 
kinds  of  action,  with  elements  of  text- 
based  and  animated  graphics  adven- 
tures, plus  arcade  sequences.  .And 
while  it  took  a  lot  of  time  and 
thought,  the  case  was  solvable. 

The  program  had  few  bad  points. 
Because  it  came  on  six  5'/(-inch  or 
three  3'/:-inch  disks,  1  would  have 
been  in  for  some  fancy  floppy  swap- 
ping if  I  hadn't  been  using  a  hard  disk. 
The  game  was  fairly  slow  on  XT-class 
machines,  and  while  the  game  was 
breathtaking  on  a  VG.A  screen,  the 
Hercules,  CG.A.  EGA,  and  Tandy 
graphics  were  only  a  little  above 
average. 

Satisfied.  I  walked  into  Scisco's 
office  and  tossed  the  report  onto  his 
desk.  "Guilty.  It's  a  COMPUTE! 
Choice,  all  right." 

"Good  job,  .Alkin,"  he  grumbled. 
"Oh,  by  the  way.  somebody  stole  that 
Maltese  bird  off  your  desk." 

Sigh.  A  detective's  work  is  never 
done. 


Mean  Streets 

IBM  PC  and  compatibles  with  51 2K- 
S59.95 

ACCESS 
545  W.  500  S 
Bountiful,  UT  84010 
(800)824-2459 


lil 


64 


COMPUTE 


FEBRUAI5Y        1990 


Welcome  to 
the  Fight  Palace. 


"Humans  come  apart  so  easily  in  the  pit.  Especially 
when  you  pull  on  their  arms'.'  — Mondu  the  Fat 

Two  creatures  in  a  pit,  strange  moves,  magical  weapons,  wild 
betting  and  your  host,  Mondu  the  Fat.  Pick  your  lifeform, 
load  up  on  bio-weapons,  then  punish  or  perish  in  the  most 
outrageous  game  ever  created — Tongue  of  the  Fatman. 


^ 

^^^■B 

jg^H^ynTi^ 

m 

^3S^III 

bH 

^ 

X^ 

^^^™ 

m£, 

iv  ■• 

(-> — 

— _ — _ 

BE 

Si 

PIbSi 

s^ 

Pick  Your  Lifeform 

Control  and  combat  a  variety  of 
aliens,  each  with  different  moves 
and  special  animations.  Ten 
beings  to  master. 


Visit  I>r.  Kadaver 

The  Multimtj.i:  764  Steroids 
pumped  you  up.  GrasfuxSlttg  Eggs 
might  slow  the  Cryoplast  long 
enough  to  nail  him. 


AcliVisioK 

See  your  local  retailer,  or  call  1-800-227-6900  to  order. 

©  19S9  ACTlVlStOM  All  brand  names  jnd  iradcmprks  are  ihe  prcpcnv  of  ihcir  rcspcciivc  holders. 
Orcle  Reader  Service  Number  10& 


#ENTERDIINMENT 


GAMEPLAY 


ORSON 


SCOTT 


CARD 


Once,  when  1  was  three 
years  old,  my  big  brother 
(at  the  ripe  old  age  of  7) 
joined  in  a  game  thai  my 
friends  and  I  were  play- 
ing. Within  moments,  our 
game  had  become  his 
game.  We  were  nothing 
but  helpless  pawns,  play- 
ing out  the  roles  he  as- 
signed to  us.  Maybe  his 
game  would  have  been  more  fun  than 
ours,  but  that  wasn't  the  point.  We 
wanted  to  be  in  charge  of  our  own 
game. 

So  we  raised  our  passionate 
three-year-old  voices  in  revoh. 
"You're  not  the  boss  of  the  game!"  we 
complained,  until  he  gave  up  and  left. 

A  few  years  have  passed,  and  I 
am  no  longer  3  (most  of  the  time). 
Now  and  then,  however,  computer 
game  designers  make  me  want  to  raise 
my  voice  in  that  same  plaintive  cry, 
"You're  not  the  boss  of  the  game!" 
Take  a  great  puzzle  game  like 
Broderbund's  Lode  Runner.  .4s  you 
move  around  the  screen,  you  dodge 
bad  guys.  All  the  while  you're  digging 
holes,  climbing  ladders,  and  jumping 
off  cliffs  in  pursuit  of  hard-to-reach 
treasures.  The  puzzles  are  diabolical, 
and  r  wouldn't  change  a  thing  about 
the  rules  of  the  game. 

What's  more,  the  game  designers 
thoughtfully  let  you  practice  getting 
through  troublesome  screens.  You  can 
start  at  any  level,  and  you  can  give 
yourself  as  many  lives  as  you  want 
until  you  learn  how  to  solve  a  particu- 
lar puzzle.  But  the  program  won't  re- 
cord your  score  on  the  vanity  board 
unless  you  started  from  the  beginning 
and  never  added  extra  lives. 

Wait  a  minute,  though.  The  game 
designer  carelessly  left  out  the  feature 
that  saves  a  game  in  progress,  so  I 
have  to  start  at  the  beginning  and  play 
straight  through  to  finish  a!!  the 
screens  and  record  the  score  on  the 
vanity  board.  That's  1 50  screens,  and 
it  takes  me  eight  or  nine  hours. 

That's  annoying  enough,  but 
what's  really  frustrating  is  that  kids 
play  the  game,  too.  Why  can't  young 


children  put  their  names  on  the  vanity 
board?  Is  it  just  because  they  can't  get 
through  a  game  without  opting  for  ex- 
tra lives?  Why  not  design  a  vanity 
board  that  includes  the  number  of  ex- 
tra lives  used  to  achieve  the  score? 
Simple  pride  will  motivate  players  to 
reduce  that  number  until  it  reaches  0, 
but  in  the  meantime  they'll  get  the 
payoff  of  competing  with  the  high 
scores  of  their  parents  and  older  sib- 
lings. In  golf  it's  called  handicapping. 
Another  example  from  another 
great  game:  Pipe  Dream  from  Lucas- 
film.  This  is  the  old  Water  Works 
game  brought  to  life.  The  game  deals 
you  a  series  of  pipe  pieces — vertical, 
horizontal,  crossover,  and  four  differ- 
ent angles.  You  must  connect  them 
onscreen.  After  a  while,  water  flows 
through  the  pipe  work  you've  built, 
and,  when  it  reaches  a  break  in  the 


pipe  or  the  edge  of  the  screen,  that 
round  ends.  If  your  pipe  is  long 
enough,  you  go  on  (o  the  next  screen; 
if  it's  too  short,  the  game  is  over. 

The  game  is  as  obsessive  as  Telris 
because  it's  simple  in  its  basic  struc- 
ture while  it  allows  almost  infinite 
possibilities.  The  game  may  throw  the 
pieces  at  you,  but  you're  the  one  who 
decides  where  they  fall.  In  that  way, 
you  create  the  playing  field,  and  no 
two  games  are  ever  alike. 


However,  it  takes  practice  to 
learn  how  to  see  the  relationships 
among  pipe  pieces  so  you  can  antici- 
pate future  structures.  Often  you  have 
to  lay  down  pieces  for  curves  and 
crossovers  that  are  30  or  40  moves 
ahead,  and  most  of  us  aren't  born 
thinking  that  way.  So,  the  game  de- 
signers have  kindly  included  a  train- 
ing mode  that  gives  you  plenty  of  time 
to  practice  at  gentle  speeds. 

But  you  don't  score  any  points  in 
training  mode.  You  can't  get  on  the 
vanity  board. 

Why  not?  The  vanity  board  is  an 
important  part  of  the  reward  structure 
of  a  game.  And  no  one  needs  that  re- 
ward more  than  children  and  begin- 
ners. Yet  they  are  the  very  ones  who 
are  barred  from  that  reward  at  the 
time  they  need  it  most.  Why?  Because 
bossy  game  designers  have  decided 
you  don't  get  to  use  the  vanity  board 
until  you're  good  enough. 

Fine.  I'm  good  enough — 140,000 
points  on  Pipe  Dream  and  a  complete 
passage  through  Lode  Runner.  I  love 
these  games.  Furthermore,  these 
games  are  exceptionally /nenJ/y  by  al- 
lowing more  player  options,  more  op- 
portunities for  death-free  practice 
than  practically  any  other  games  on 
the  market.  I  chose  them  because  they 
come  closest  to  the  ideal.  But  why 
couldn't  they  set  up  multiple  vanity 
boards?  Or  allow  players  to  determine 
vanity-board  options  just  as  they  do 
playtime  options?  Alas,  even  the  most 
freedom-loving  game  designers  can 
succumb  to  arbitrary  and  unnecessary 
bossiness:  and  that's  a  shame,  espe- 
cially when  it  makes  children  feel 
second-rate  while  playing  what  is 
otherwise  a  great  children's  game. 

While  you  make  these  decisions, 
game  designers,  imagine  a  bunch  of 
little  kids  standing  around  your  com- 
puter desk,  chanting:  "You're  not  the 
boss  of  the  game!"  Maybe  that  will 
help  you  remember  that  you're  not 
just  designing  games  for  the  14-year- 
old  wizard  with  the  reflexes  of  a 
hyperactive  cricket.  You're  designing 
games  that  even  klutzes  and  little  chil- 
dren might  enjoy — if  you'll  let  us.      H 


66 


COMPUTE! 


FEBRUARY        1990 


Everyone  on  the  Road 
is  Armed  and  Dangerous 


Hurtling  through  the  turn,  you  lock-on  to  the  lead  car  and 
fire.  In  less  than  a  second,  your  Falcon  missile  slams  into 
the  target  and  explodes  in  a  ball  of  fire.  You  smile  to  yourself 
—  he  was  a  good  assassin,  but  a  lousy  driver  Instantly,  your 
radar  detects  a  Terminator  bearing  down  on  your  exhaust. 
You  swerve,  but  its  too  late.  A  small  mistake  ends  another 
brief  career  on  the  DEATHTRACK— yours. 


In  the  Hot  Seat. 
Race  through  hairpin  curves  and 
over  monster  jumps  on  10  tracks 
in  10  cities. 

Created  by  Dynamix. 


They've  Never  Been  to 
theDMV 

America's  most  wanted  are  on 
the  circuit,  with  a  colorful  rap 
sheet  and  plenty  of  ways  to  knock 
you  out. 


AcliVirioN. 

See  your  local  retailer,  or  call  1-800-227-6900  to  order 

O  1989  ACn VISION  Software  ©  1989  D>-naraix. 
All  brand  names  and  trademarks  are  the  property  of  their  respecdve  holders 
Circle  Readaf  Service  Number  106 


GLORY D 


THE  COMPUTER-INSPIRED 
FANTASY  FOOTBALL  SEASON 
THAT  PROVED 
YOGI  BERRA  WRONG—  % 
IT  AIN'T  OVER  EVEN 
AFTER  IT'S  OVER 


MICKEY  McLean 


Almost  every  football  fan  has 
argued  with  family  and 
friends  over  which  was  ihej 
greatest  team  to  ever 
the  gridirons  of  the  Na- 
tional Football  Lcagui 
Maybe  you're  in  your 
40s  and  remember 
how  Green  Bay 
dominated  the 
league  in  the  1960s, 
but  your  teenager  insists  that  the 
Pack  couldn't  touch  the  49ers  from 

the  1980s.  Steve  Sabol.  president  of  NFL  Films,  envisioned  a  project  that 
would  bring  those  dream  match-ups  to  life.  .A.11  it  took  were  some  personal 
computers,  a  comprehensive  football  simulation,  months  of  hard  work, 
and  the  vaults  of  the  most  impressive  spoils  film  libran'  ever  amassed. 

If  Sabol  had  tried  to  round  up  membc^rs  of  the  Lombardi-era 
Packers  to  play  49crs  still  in  their  20s  and  30s  (maybe  in  a  football 
stadium  built  in  a  rural  cornfield),  the  older  Packers  would've  thought 
him  insane.  Even  if  the  pride  and  competitive  spirit  were  there,  time 
had  blurred  the  agility  and  strength.  To  ensure  that  the  competition 
would  be  fair  and  impartial,  Sabol  looked  for  a  way  that  these  teams 
could  play  against  one  another  while  still  at  their  peak  of  performance. 

Time  Travel 

Instead  of  calling  on  a  mad  scientist  to  develop  a  time  machine, 
Sabol  enlisted  the  help  of  Bob  Krutz,  president  of  XOR,  and  his 
popular  computer  football  simulation,  NFL  Challenge,  which  is 
licensed  by  the  NFL  and  the  National  Football  League  Players 
,4ssociation.  The  software  program  impressed  Sabol  wnth  its  accu- 
racy. He  notes  that  it  has  predicted  the  final  score  of  the  last  four 
Super  Bowls  within  a  few  points  of  the  actual  tally.  Sabol  was  also 
pleased  that  NFL  Challenge  would  allow  him  to  match  up  great 
teams,  in  their  prime,  in  fantasy  games  on  a  truly  neutral  site — a  PC. 

"I  looked  at  other  simulations,  but  NFL  Challenge  was  by  far 
the  most  detailed,"  Sabol  says.  "It  gave  us  all  the  possible  stats  with 
the  game  printouts  and  sometimes  was  more  detailed  than  we  needed." 


68       COMPUTEI  FEBRUARY       19    9    0 


©NFLFrlms.lrre. 


■'•    Sabol  is  quick  to  point  out  that,  although 
he  provided  the  final  visual  product  through 

)film  editing,  none  of  it  could've  been  possible 
without  the  help  of  computers  and  XOR's 
software. 
"It  would've  never  happened  without  rom- 
puters,"  Sabot  says.  "Computers  were  the  basis 
of  the  whole  Dream  Season.  We  needed  an  im- 
partial source,  and  computers  provided  us  with 
credibility  and  gave  us  the  high-tech  element. 
We  just  added  the  flesh  and  personality." 

Although  computer  simulations  can  be  ex- 
tremely realistic  and  provide  fascinating  results, 
for  Sabol  it  still  wasn't  enough.  He  needed  a  way 
to  present  the  simulation  to  an  audience.  For  that. 
he  called  upon  his  experience  at  NFL  Films. 

NFL  Films  is  the  largest  and  most  exhaustive 
film  library  in  sports.  If  it  happened  on  a  professional 
football  field  in  the  last  40  years,  you  can  bet  NFL  Films 
J    has  it  recorded  on  film.  Sabol  knew  that  an  exhaustive 
search  would  turn  up  appropriate  film  clips,  and  that  a 
careful  edit  could  bring  those  clips  together  to  make  it 
appear  that  two  teams  such  as  the  1 966  Packers  and  the 
1 984  49ers  would  actually  be  playing  apinst  each  other,  just 
as  was  possible  on  the  computer. 

But  Sabol  wasn't  interested  in  just  a  one-time  match-up 
between  two  teams.  He  wanted  to  settle  the  question  of  v/hat 
was  the  best  team  of  all  time.  To  do  that,  he  would  need  to  play 
out  a  complete  season,  with  20  of  the  best  teams  in  NFL 
history  vying  for  the  title. 

Season  of  Dreams 

Sabol  first  had  to  determine  which  teams  would  vie  foi' 
the  mythical  championship.  He  consulted  the  Pro  Football 
Hall  of  Fame  and  other  experts  for  a  list  of  the  20  best  teams 
to  have  played  since  1950,  and  placed  those  teams  into  four 
divisions.  The  criteria  for  selection  mandated  tliat  each  team 
must  have  won  an  NFL  or  AFL  championship.  After  the 


FEBRUARY       1990 


COMPUTE 


69 


GLORY  DAYS 


Only  in  a  Dream  Season  would  Cleveland's  Jim  Brown  (32)  face 
Lawrence  Taylor  of  the  New  York  Giants,  i©  imfl  Rims,  mo 


teams  were  chosen,  six  games  were  scheduled  for 

each  team;  the  Dream  Season  became  reality. 

At  that  point,  Bob  Krulz  at  XOR  took  the 
ball.  It  was  up  to  him  to  gather  the  statistical  data 
necessary  for  use  with  NFL  Challenge.  XOR 
constantly  updates  data  on  current  NFL  stars  for 
its  season  disks;  therefore,  Krutz  had  no  problem 
compiling  information  for  teams  from  the  recent 
past.  For  teams  that  played  prior  to  the  release  of 
NFL  Challenge,  Krutz  used  data  from  XOR's 
All-Star  and  Greatest  Teams  disks.  The  Greatest 
Teams  disks  feature  the  best  players  from  each 
franchise.  But  even  with  that  extensive  amount 
of  team  and  player  information,  there  were  still 
some  holes.  To  help  fill  them  in,  Krutz  enlisted 
the  aid  of  local  NFL  experts  (XOR's  offices  are 
located  in  Minneapolis)  to  research  the  remain- 
ing player  ratings.  The  final  product  was  not  only 
used  for  the  Dream  Season  but  also  became 
available  for  use  by  NFL  Challenge  players  as 
The  Dream  Teams  Disk. 

Krutz  played  every  game  on  each  week's 
schedule  100  times.  Whichever  team  won  the 
most  games  was  deemed  the  winner.  Krutz  then 
browsed  through  the  results  and  selected  one 
game  that  was  representative  of  the  score  and 
statistics  found  in  the  majority  of  the  games 
played.  He  then  sent  a  play-by-play  printout  of 
the  representative  game  (45-50  pages  long)  to  Sa- 
bol  at  NFL  Films'  New  Jersey  offices. 

If  You  Build  It,  They  Will  Watch 

Each  week,  Sabol  and  his  crew  at  NFL  Films 
picked  one  game  as  a  feature  game.  They  then 
gleaned  from  their  archives  the  appropriate  fool- 
age  to  create  a  fantasy  game  that  fans  could 
watch  on  ESPN. 

"We  would  feed  NFL  Films  a  book  of  statis- 
tical results  for  each  week  of  the  season."  Krutz 
says.  "They  would  go  through  the  stats  and  build 
it  out  of  that.  And  they  did  a  remarkable  job  put- 
ting it  together." 

Sabol  and  crew  pulled  over  1 50  miles  of  film 
footage  out  of  the  NFL  Films  vaults.  The  footage 


included  from  15  to  20  games  between  each 
week's  two  feature  teams  and  took  over  two 
months  to  edit,  translating  into  almost  16 
months  of  work  to  complete  the  entire  season. 

"It  was  like  putting  together  a  jigsaw  puz- 
zle," Sabol  says.  "To  be  accurate,  we  had  to  take 
into  account  weather,  stadiums,  playing  surfaces, 
and  uniforms." 

It  wasn't  always  possible  to  make  a  100- 
percent-perfect  duplication  of  the  computer 
game,  but  Sabol  came  remarkably  close.  First,  he 
searched  through  film  of  all  the  games  the  two 
clubs  actually  played  against  each  other,  and 
then  he  went  through  all  the  film  from  the  year 
each  team  played,  plus  the  year  before  and  the 
year  after. 

"We  tried  to  find  a  play  similar  to  what  the 
simulation  called  for,  or  we  would  find  an  appro- 
priate beginning  and  end  to  the  play,"  Sabol  says. 

Krutz  says  that  Sabol  remembered  some 
plays  from  experience.  "He  is  a  walking  encyclo- 
pedia of  NFL  Football,"  Krutz  says.  "He  seems 
to  remember  almost  every  big  play  ever  made." 

Overcoming  Obstacles 

One  problem  Sabol  encountered  while  working 
on  the  project  involved  the  1972  Dolphins, 
which  featured  Bob  Griese  at  quarterback. 

"Bob  Griese,  later  in  his  career,  began  to 
wear  glasses,"  Sabol  says.  "We  thought  about 
having  him  have  a  bad  first  half,  then  go  in  at 
halftime,  put  on  his  glasses,  and  have  a  great  sec- 
ond half  But  we  didn't  want  to  make  a  joke  out 
of  these  games." 

Helmets,  which  covered  players'  identities, 
and  the  air-brushing  of  uniform  numbers  solved 
many  of  Sabol's  problems,  but  one  feature  game 
provided  some  unique  obstacles. 

"The  most  difficult  game  we  did  was  the  '66 
Packers  against  the  '84  San  Francisco  team,"  Sa- 
bol said.  "None  of  the  players  ever  played 
against  each  other.  The  stadiums,  uniforms,  and 
the  film  stock  we  used  were  different.  That  one 
game  took  over  two  and  a  half  months  to  com- 
plete. But  it  was  magic  seeing  Walsh  versus 
Lombardi." 

That  game  also  featured  several  special 
touches  that  Sabol  and  crew  added  to  the  tele- 
casts to  provide  further  realism. 

"That  is  really  Vince  Lombardi's  voice  you 
hear  during  the  game,"  Sabol  says.  "It's  also  ac- 
tually Bart  Starr's  voice  calling  the  signals." 

Sabol  believed  that  what  made  the  games 
seem  even  more  realistic  were  the  sideline  close- 
up  shots  that  revealed  the  reactions  of  players 
and  coaches. 

Play  It  Again,  Steve 

Many  of  those  reactions  didn't  come  from  the 
past,  however.  A  lot  of  ex -players  and  coaches 
were  very  vocal  about  their  "computerized" 
performances. 

"Some  players  and  coaches  were  upset 
when  their  teams  lost,"  Sabol  says.  "We  set  out 
to  make  it  realistic,  but  maybe  we  did  too  good 
a  job. 

"Hank  Stram  [coach  of  the  1969  Kansas 


70 


COMPUTE! 


FEBRUARY        1990 


City  Chiefs]  has  been  a  friend  of  mine  for  20 
years,  and  when  he  saw  his  team  gel  beat  by  the 
'76  Oakland  Raiders,  he  asked  me.  'What  kind  of 
trash  are  you  putting  into  that  computer?' " 

Several  players  also  disapproved  of  the 
game  results  and  botched  plays.  "These  guys 
were  feeling  a  sense  of  frustration,"  Sabol  says, 
"They  were  watching  themselves  in  action  and 
couldn't  do  anything  about  it." 

Despite  the  grumbhng,  coaches  and  players 
from  these  championship  teams  went  on  camera 
and  pretended  thai  the  game  was  for  real,  provid- 
ing insight  into  their  game  plans  and  revealing 
how  they  might  handle  an  opponent  who  was 
from  another  era. 

The  schedule  maker  provided  some  interest- 
ing malch-ups  and  created  some  bizarre  conflicts 
of  interest.  For  example,  when  the  1959  Balti- 
more Cohs  faced  the  1969  New  York  Jets,  Weeb 
Ewbank  stood  on  opposite  sidelines,  coaching 
both  teams.  Chuck  Noll  found  himself  playing 
for  the  1955  Cleveland  Browns  while  coaching 
the  1978  Pittsburgh  Steelers.  Norm  Van  Brocklin 
played  quarterback  for  both  the  1951  Los  Ange- 
les Rams  and  the  1960  Philadelphia  Eagles, 
while  Paul  Warfield  lined  up  at  wide  receiver  for 
both  the  1964  Browns  and  the  1972  Dolphins. 

Network  Coverage 

The  final  product  of  all  the  computer  games  and 
diligent  film  work  ran  on  six  consecutive  Sunday 
nights  on  ESPN  last  September  and  October, 
then  culminated  in  the  Dream  Bowl  on  October 


Before  they  were  augmented  by  film,  the  fantasy  football 
games  were  played  out  using  XOR's  NFL  ChallengB. 


29.  During  the  season,  real-life  Philadelphia 
Eagles  announcer  Merrill  Reese  provided  the 
play-by-play,  while  Sabol  offered  his  on-the-air 
analysis.  At  halftime,  ESPN's  Chris  Herman  re- 
layed scores  and  highlights  of  other  dream  games 
from  around  the  league,  explaining  that  black- 
and-white  footage  was  the  result  of  some  techni- 
cal difficulties. 

"ESPN  provided  us  with  great  publicity," 
Sabol  says.  "They  showed  a  great  sense  of  adven- 
ture by  airing  it,  and  it  worked." 

When  the  regular  season  came  to  a  close,  the 
1978  Pittsburgh  Steelers  had  captured  the  East 
division;  the  1984  San  Francisco  49ers,  the  West; 


NFL  Challenge 
Version  2.01 

Just  when  you  thought  the  best 
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Challenge  now  includes  player  names  in 
the  most  realistic  NFL  football 
simulation  ever  created  for  the 
computer. 

NFL  Challenge  puts  you  in  control 
of  your  favorite  NFL  team.  Complete 
NFL  rosters  and  skill  level  ratings  for 
every  player.  75+  offensive  and 
defensive  plays  with  graphic  animation, 
instant  replays,  penalties  and  injuries. 

Operating  on  IBM  PC  and  true 
compatibles,  NFL  Challenge  puts  you 
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XOR 

CaRPQRATIDN 

7607  Bush  Lake  Road 
Minneapolis.  Minnesota  55435 
(612)831-0444 


Circle  Reader  Service  Number  196 
FEBRUARV       1990  COMPUTE!       71 


it  has  taken  more  than  eight  calendar  years  to  create  KNIGHTS  OF  LEiatlvin,  the  crowning 

achievement  in  medieval  fantasy  and  role-playing.  We've  developed  the  most  comprehensive 

combat  system  ever,  surrounded  by  a  meticulously  crafted  world  of  strategy,  action  and  emotion. 

The  lands  are  filled  witti  hundreds  of  unique  personalities  and  dozens  of  towns  and  hamlets — and 

the  people  are  filled  with  spiril,  conflict  and  honor. 


^  i^tJicusiiy 

T"  We  create  worldsr 


APPLE  VERSIOW 


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Circle  Reader  Service  Number  187 


GIORY  DAYS 


the  1976  Oakland  Raiders,  the  North;  and  the 
1972  Miami  Dolphins,  the  South.  In  the  Fantas- 
tic Four  playofTs,  the  Sleelers  defeated  the  49ers. 
while  the  Dolphins  downed  the  Raiders.  Then  it 
was  on  to  the  Dream  Bowl. 

Don't  Step  on  My  Blue  Suede  Cleats 

Most  Super  Bowls  have  been  super  yawns,  but 
the  Dream  Bowl  poured  on  the  excitement  from 
beginning  to  end.  Before  the  game,  Dream  Bowi 
organizers  brought  Elvis  back  from  the  dead  to 
toss  the  coin.  .A.nd  to  top  off  that  rousing  begin- 
ning. Pittsburgh  running  back  Franco  Harris 
plunged  over  the  goal  line  from  three  yards  out 
on  the  last  play  from  scrimmage  to  give  the  Stecl- 
ers  a  21-20  Dream  Bowl  victory  over  the  Dol- 
phins. (The  1972  Miami  team  didn't  lose  a  single 
game  in  reality.  It's  the  only  team  in  NFL  history 
to  have  finished  a  season  with  a  perfect  record.) 
Although  the  game  appeared  to  have  been 
won  at  Pittsburgh's  Three  Rivers  Stadium,  in  ac- 
tuality it  was  played  out  in  Minnesota  on  Bob 
Krutz's  PC,  where  the  computerized  Steel ers  pre- 
vailed in  52  of  100  simulated  games. 

Son  of  Dream  Season? 

Sabol  and  Krutz  are  still  recovering  from  the  te- 
dious Dream  Season  project  and  have  no  plans 
to  repeat  the  experience.  "There  will  be  no  se- 
quel," Sabol  says.  "We'll  wait  at  least  ten  years 
before  we  try  anything  on  this  scale  again." 


At  the  Snap 

For  more  information  on  products  mentioned 
in  this  article,  contact  XOR,  7607  Bush  Lake 
Road,  Minneapolis,  Minnesota  55435;  (SOO) 
635-2425. 

NFL  Challenge  (version  2.01) 
IBM  PC  and  compatibies— $99.95 

NFL  Challenge  (version  1 .03) 
Macintosh  with  one  megabyte  of  RAM — 
$99.95 

The  Dream  Teams  Disk 

IBM  PC  and  compatibles— $19.95 


There  is  a  possibility,  however,  that  we'll  see 

some  special  projects,  including  one-time  match- 
ups between  teams  such  as  this  year's  Super 
Bowl  champion  against  the  Dream  Bowl  winner. 
So,  while  we  watch  another  decade  of  great 
players,  super  games,  and  dramatic  comebacks, 
we  can  hope  for  another  glimpse  into  the  world 
of  computerized  fantasy  football.  And  by  the 
way,  if  you  missed  the  telecast  of  the  Packers  and 
the  49ers  during  week  2,  the  old-timers  did  well 
for  themselves,  defeating  the  1984  Super  Bowl 
champions  28-21.  s 

Mickey  McLean  is  an  editorial  assistant  at  COMPUTE! 
Publications.  He  holds  the  sports  trivia  title  in  our  office. 


18 
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#ENTER1AINMENT 


GAMESCOPE 


HINTS 


AND 


TIPS 


FROM 


OUR 


READERS 


AS  in  Tetris,  the  key  to 
most  cube-based  games  is 
to  know  what  to  do  with 
pieces  before  they  fall.  In 
your  head,  you  should  be 
saying.  "If  I  get  a  three- 
pronged  corner  piece,  it 
can  go  here  or  there.  Ifl 
gel  an  L-shaped  piece,  I'll 
need  to  flip  it  horizontaily 
to  fit  it  there."  M  the  time, 
you  should  prepare  for  contingencies. 
In  California  Dreams'  Blackout, 
there  are  three  groups  of  shapes,  and 
they  correspond  to  the  difficulty  of  the 
game.  I'm  still  trying  to  master  the 
second  level,  which  uses  the  Basic  set 
of  shapes.  In  this  set,  you'll  find  two 
shapes  that  cannot  lie  flat.  No  matter 
which  way  you  flip  them,  they  take  up 
at  least  two  rows.  Both  shapes  have  an 
analogous  flat  shape,  though:  the 
three-piece  corner  shape.  Whenever 
one  of  these  two-level  corner  pieces 
comes  up,  just  think  of  it  as  a  flat  cor- 
ner piece  and  find  a  place  for  it  with- 
out worrying  about  the  extra  level. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  a  way 
to  use  the  two-level  corner  shapes  to 
your  advantage.  For  either  shape,  look 
for  a  space  with  a  two-cube  hole  on 
one  level  and  an  adjacent  one-cube 
hole  one  level  down. 

When  you  get  the  three-pronged 
shape,  for  example,  flip  it  once  and  it 
will  fit  neatly  into  a  space  with  a  one- 
cube  hole  that's  one  level  down  from 
two  cube  holes  that  meet  diagonally. 
The  new  piece  turns  that  area  into  a 
tidy  rectangular  box. 

I  still  can't  master  the  hardest 
group  of  cubes.  They  take  up  more 
than  two  levels,  and  it's  so  easy  to 
block  off  several  rows  at  a  time.  .Any- 
one out  there  have  any  ideas? 
Heidi  E.  H.  A  vcock 
Chapel  Hill.  NC 

Art  Of  War 

In  Broderbund's  The  Ancient  Art  of 
War.  armies  are  composed  of  three 
dilTercni  types  of  soldiers:  archers, 
barbarians,  and  knights.  The  most  im- 
portant lesson  is  to  learn  what  each 
type  of  soldier  is  good  for.  .Archers  are 


good  at  picking  off  slow-moving 
knights.  A  knight's  armor  and  sword 
makes  him  effective  against  barbar- 
ians, while  the  swift-moving  barbar- 
ians are  the  best  choice  for  eliminating 
enemy  archers. 

If  you  find  an  enemy  army  com- 
posed of  a  single  type  of  soldier,  try 
forming  an  army  composed  of  the 
best  type  of  soldiers  to  fight  against 
that  type.  For  example,  if  you  spot  an 
enemy  army  composed  entirely  of 
knights,  split  off  archers  from  your  ar- 
mies and  form  them  into  a  separate 
army;  then  send  it  against  the  enemy 
knights. 

The  formation  of  an  army  is  im- 
portant to  its  combat  effectiveness.  Be 
careful  of  the  terrain  as  well — troops 


You  can  fill  a  hole  and  clear  a  level  if  you 
rotate  your  block  before  you  drop  it. 

fighting  uphill  are  at  a  serious 
disadvantage. 

Fighting  with  mixed  units  re- 
quires careful  planning.  If  your  army 
of  knights  and  archers  is  opposed  by 
an  enemy  army  of  knights  and  barbar- 
ians, don't  just  rush  to  the  attack.  In- 
stead, order  only  your  archers  to 
attack.  This  will  eliminate  many  of 
the  enemy  knights.  When  the  enemy 
barbarians  approach,  order  your  ar- 
chers to  back  ofTand  then  let  your 
knights  attack. 

Keep  a  close  eye  on  the  condition 
of  your  troops.  Fatigue  has  a  drastic 
effect  on  an  army's  performance,  and 
if  your  troops  are  too  tired,  they  may 
choose  to  surrender  rather  than  fight. 
A  good  food  supply  is  an  absolute 
must.  Capturing  a  town  supplies  your 


men  with  food,  while  denying  it  to  the 

enemy. 

Brandon  Alexander 

La  Crosse.  WI 

Mansion  Maniacs 

Here  are  some  tips  on  how  to  get  out 
alive  when  playing  Lucasfilms'  Mani- 
ac Mansion.  You'll  have  to  lift 
weights  before  you  can  open  the  ga- 
rage and  the  grass-covered  grating 
near  the  steps  at  the  front  door. 

To  get  the  radio  out  of  the  swim- 
ming pool,  you  have  to  turn  on  the 
water  valve  at  the  end  of  the  hallway 
of  pipes,  which  is  located  below  the 
grating.  But  be  careful — if  you  leave 
the  water  valve  on  too  long,  the  man- 
sion will  blow  up.  If  you  push  the  red 
button  on  the  wall  of  the  pool,  it  will 
blow  up,  too! 
Diane  Sides 
Kernersville,  NC 

On  a  Quest 

Here  are  some  clues  to  get  you 
through  the  tougher  spots  in  Sierra's 
King's  Quest  HI. 

If  you  can,  avoid  the  Wizard.  But 
if  he  tells  you  to  do  a  chore,  do  it.  Ex- 
plore the  countryside  while  the  Wiz- 
ard takes  a  journey,  but  be  careful,  as 
he  will  soon  return.  Watch  your  back 
while  exploring  here. 

Go  into  the  Wizard's  office, 
move  a  book,  and  pull  the  lever.  A 
trap  door  will  open.  Kick  the  cat  out 
of  the  way,  search  the  shelves,  and 
take  everything. 

The  porridge  will  come  in  handy 
when  you're  trying  to  get  rid  of  the 
Wizard. 

Dragons  are  easier  to  kill  when 
they  can't  see  you.  And  you'll  need  to 
brew  up  a  storm  to  save  the  princess. 
Chad  Stone 
Winston-Salem,  NC 

If  you  have  game  lips  and  shortcuts  of 
your  own,  we'd  like  to  hear  from  you. 
Send  vour  tip,  no  matter  how  brief,  to 
COMPUTE! Feedback,  P.O.  Bo.x 
5406.  Greensboro,  North  Carolina 
27403.  If  we  publish  your  suggestion, 
we  'II  send  you  a  gift.  m 


74 


COMPUTE 


FEBRUARY       1990 


You've  bribed  mighty  rivers  and  tunneled 


•      .  t 


iriKr[^ii[ii>irt]iriiHrrikiik"tivAYiiiifg4i?Tii  ml  nm\  \  \ 


of  an  $850  mill|Qn  Railroad  Empire.^ 
^thypur  next  move  jt  could  allgo  up  in  smoke. 


Play  the  longshot. 

Exercise  shrewd  biisiness  sa^^y  as 
you  maintain  a  delicate 
balance  bet\\'een  i^eve- 
nLie-building  passengei" 
lines  and  em]")ire-bi.iiicling 
freight  lines. 

You're  at  the 
helm  of  your  own 
poweifiil  Nai/- 
rocid  Empitv. 
having  magnified 
modest  capital 


liliiJiiH 


into  a  burgeoning  enteiprise. 
Strategically  manage  your  re- 
sources to  maximize  your  ex- 
pansion across  rivei:s,  through 
mountains  and  over  goroes. 
■[he  ability'  to  design  and 
execute  your  master  plan 
within  a  single  year  is 
yoLir  vital  link  tcKsuc- 
cess.  But  rememlier. 
e\'en-  action  yon  take 
could  make  \-ou  or 
break  vou. 


i^^^S^riTfe 


Disco\-er  the  ultimate  PC  chal- 
lenge of  Railmad  Empiiv. 

Tlie  game  includes  maps  and 
tcx)Ls  to  build  your  own  Transconti- 
nental Railroad  or  Orient  Hxpress. 

Railmad  Empire. 

All  it  takes  is  all  youVe  got. 

^ARTDIIMK 

RtfKptins  m\t  PC  or  compatible  uifb  CGA  or  £GM.  3S4K  RAM 

and  DOS  J.lt  or  bibber.  Bcchtsjivly  dlstribmed  by  Seii^ 
Corponitkm.  20000 Marifier Aivnue^  Stit'ie  tOO.  Tunxtme,  CA 
WjO^,  Pfxme:  I  fSOOf  ^2-5040.  ©  1!)S9  AJUDIXK.  m.\f  is  a 
n.'iii'iU'nxi  inidLtnarit  of  Intcniaiiomit  Busitwss  Machines 
Corptimtton . 


LEARN 


Word  Prcic«»lng 
Giaptilct 
Music 
Programming 


Chattenging 
Creative  and  Funl 


LOGO  PACKS 
MORE  POWER 
AND  LEARNING 
THAN  EVER 

COMPUTE! 
CHOICE 


RICHARD  C.  LEINECKER 


Ages  7  and  up 


Grade-school  programming 
students  usually  begin 
with  Logo,  then  after  a 
few  years  discard  it  for 
"higher-level  languages" 
and  spend  their  remain- 
ing years  of  study  show- 
ing disdain  for  the 
language.  But  now,  Logo 
Computer  Systems  Incor- 
porated (LCSI)  may  have 
shattered  that  perception  with  Logo- 
Writer,  a  revamped  version  of  the 
age-old  classic. 

What  are  the  benefits  of  program- 
ming in  Logo?  First,  Logo's  com- 
mands are  easy  to  use,  easy  to 
understand,  and  easy  to  master,  even 
for  kids  and  nonprogrammers.  Also, 
Logo  is  a  structured  language.  You 


can  easily  develop  simple, 
—    complex,  and  even  recur- 
sive procedures  to  perform 
almost  any  task.  That  may 
sound  like  a  dichotomy, 
but  it's  not.  A  set  of  simple 
building  blocks  (the  com- 
mands) can  be  assembled 
into  larger  parts  (the  proce- 
dures) to  create  a  complete 
structure  (the  program).  It's 
like  building  a  mansion  out 
of  single  bricks  or  writing  a 
novel  using  single  letters 
and  words. 

Logo  Writer  combines 
the  strengths  of  Logo  with 
several  substantial  en- 
hancements. These  include 
a  powerful  program  editor, 
new  commands,  extended 
graphics,  and  a  page-and- 
scrapbook  metaphor  that 
simplifies  the  disk  storage 
concept  for  young  users. 

The  text  editor  found 
in  earlier  Logo  implemen- 
tations has  been  replaced 
by  a  word  processor-like 
environment.  Cut,  copy, 
and  paste  functions  simpli- 
ly  writing  and  editing  programs.  Also, 
you're  no  longer  forced  to  switch  back 
and  forth  between  the  editor  and  the 
output  display — they  are  now  inte- 
grated on  a  single  screen.  Commands 
typed  on  the  main  screen  are  executed 
immediately.  You  create  programs 
and  subroutines  on  an  alternate 
screen  called  the  Flip  Side.  These  rou- 
tines can  then  be  accessed  from  the 
main  command  screen  or  other  sub- 
routines. There's  nothing  like  imme- 
diate feedback  and  reinforcement 
while  learning. 

Logo  Writer  has  powerful  search 
capabilities.  You  can  search  for  a  text 
string  and  replace  it,  delete  it,  or  insert 
text  before  it.  Not  many  versions  of 
Logo  allow  that. 

Single-keystroke  commands  help 


76 


C    O    M    P    U    T    E    I 


FEBRUARY        1990 


further  tame  the  user  interface.  Get  a 
directory,  see  onscreen  help,  and  view 
the  previous  or  next  screen  with  the 
touch  of  a  key.  You  can  select  a  page 
to  load  with  the  cursor  keys.  The  key- 
board layout  posters,  adhesive  tem- 
plates, and  conveniently  sized 
reference  cards  that  come  with  the 
program  make  it  easy  to  learn  the  var- 
ious keystrokes. 

Commands  added  to  the  stand- 
ard Logo  repertoire  increase  Logo- 
Writer's  power.  They  also  make 
programming  easier  by  streamlining 
some  previously  awkward  tasks. 
LCSI  didn't  add  incompatibilities 
by  changing  the  standard  set  of  in- 
structions; it  simply  added  extras  that 
can  be  used  once  you  master  the 
fundamentals. 

Logo  Writer  lets  you  parse  a  string 
of  characters,  converting  them  into  a 
list.  A  clumsy  set  of  instructions  in 
many  other  languages,  parsing  is  auto- 
matic in  LogoWriter.  This  parsed  list 
can  then  be  used  to  make  a  complex 
set  of  decisions.  This  is  a  first  step 
when  developing  artificial-intelligence 
programs. 

Most  programs  easily  accept  key- 
press inputs.  LogoWriter  -pTOpaxni 
are  no  exception,  but  the  language 
adds  direct  support  for  hot  keys,  some- 
thing I've  never  seen  in  any  other  lan- 
guage. Plenty  of  programs,  especially 
terminate-and-stay-resident  pro- 
grams, are  activated  with  hot  keys. 
But  implementing  hot  keys  is  usually 
very  difficult.  In  LogoWriter,  though, 
it's  as  easy  as  typing  WHEN  "Z  [PR 
HELLO  WORLD].  Every  time  you 
press  the  control-Z  key  combination, 
HELLO  WORLD  will  be  printed  on 
the  screen.  When  you  want  to  deacti- 
vate the  control-Z  hot  key,  simply 
type  CLEAREVENTS.  The  entire 
process  is  quick,  easy,  and  extremely 
effective  in  programs. 

I've  only  mentioned  a  small  por- 
tion of  the  command  additions.  Flash 
and  glitter  play  as  important  a  role  in 


keeping  kids  interested  as  do  fancy 
programming  techniques — and  Logo- 
Writer's  beefed-up  graphics  support 
gives  you  plenty. 

Turtle  graphics  are  a  big  part  of 
what  makes  Logo  so  popular  for  pro- 
gramming instruction.  Kids  give  an 
onscreen  turtle  commands  such  as 
TURN,  FORWARD,  PEN  UP,  and 
PEN  DOWN.  With  the  pen  down,  the 
turtle  draws  a  graphic  trail  behind  it  as 
it  moves  across  the  screen.  Students 
learn  programming  fundamentals  as 
they  learn  to  draw  pictures  by  moving 
the  turtle  around  the  screen. 

Logo  Writer  has  four  turtles  that 
move  smoothly  across  the  screen, 
either  independently  or  in  synchroni- 
zation. Actually,  the  turtles  no  longer 
have  to  be  turtles.  You  can  set  them 
to  any  shape  within  a  16  X  16  pixel 
size  Umit  using  the  shape  editor.  Mod- 
ify' any  of  several  dozen  shapes  pro- 
vided with  the  package,  or  add  to  the 
collection  by  filling  in  blank  shape  ta- 
bles. .As  you  edit  a  shape,  you  see  both 
a  magnified  version  and  an  actual-size 
version.  Move  the  cursor  around  in 
the  edit  box  and  hit  the  space  bar  to 
toggle  bits  on  and  off  The  actual-size 
shape  changes,  too,  so  that  you  can 
see  exactly  what  it  will  look  like  in 
your  program. 

If  you  have  an  EGA  or  a  VG.A. 
monitor,  get  ready  to  splash  your  pro- 
grams with  vivid  color.  The  appear- 
ance of  1 6-color  EGA  Logo  programs 
can  rival  most  commercial  programs. 
Taking  full  advantage  of  the  256 
VGA-color  spectrum  could  produce  a 
program  competitive  with  the  most 
graphically  intensive  packages.  The 
execution  speed  isn't  up  lo  the  snuff  of 
commercial  games,  though.  As  with 
any  interpreted  language,  Logo  has 
operational  overhead  that  slows  it 
down.  But  if  you  want  graphics,  and 


speed  isn't  high  on  your  list  of  priori- 
tics,  LogoWriter  fills  the  bill. 

Within  several  hours  of  first  in- 
stalling the  program,  I  had  made  com- 
plex patterns  and  shapes  come  alive 
on  the  screen.  I  was  able  to  make  tri- 
angles rotate,  change  colors,  shrink, 
and  grow  in  different  sequences. 
Where  was  this  package  when  I  was 
teaching  rotations,  symmetry,  and 
similar  figures  in  geometry  classes 
several  years  ago? 

One  of  the  more  substantial  bene- 
fits of  Logo  is  its  crossover  to  other 
subject  areas.  To  its  credit,  LCSI  has 
exploited  this  ability. 

Math  concepts  are  the  first  to 
come  to  mind.  Make  the  turtle  go  for- 
ward 50  pixels,  turn  right  90  degrees 
and  go  another  50  pixels,  and  you've 
covered  distance,  spatial  relation- 
ships, right  angles,  and  event  sequenc- 
ing. Create  some  random  numbers, 
use  them  to  make  decisions,  and  the 
field  of  statistics  has  been  addressed. 
But  why  is  this  package  any  better  at 
fostering  these  cognitive  processes 
than  other  languages  and  educational 
tools?  It's  the  examples  that  are  pro- 
vided. The  home  version  takes  you 
through  them  step  by  step,  while  the 
school  packages  provide  several  activ- 
ities and  reinforcements.  Example 
pages  on  the  disk  will  also  put  you 
through  the  paces. 

The  comprehensive  working  en- 
vironment LogoWriter  provides  is 
also  an  excellent  tool  for  other  classes. 
Consider  a  biology  project  on  the  de- 
velopment of  housefiies.  You  can  eas- 
ily integrate  text  and  graphics  to 


FEBRUARY       1990  COMPUTEI       77 


#  LEARNING 


present  information  and  graphically 
depict  different  growth  stages.  Dem- 
onstrate how  wings  and  other  parts 
work  by  defining  the  four  turtles  as 
shapes  that  work  together.  Draw  a 
map  and  show  migrations  and  popu- 
lation tendencies.  Soon  you  have  a 
full-fledged,  audio-visual  report — the 
type  that  gets  superior  awards  at  sci- 
ence fairs. 

Now  for  an  exercise  in  creative 
writing.  Interactive  stories  are  gaining 
popularity  in  educational  software, 
and  LogoWriter  gives  you  the  chance 
to  create  your  own.  Suppose  that 
you're  writing  an  adventure  story  that 
takes  place  in  Civil  War  .America  as 
part  of  an  American  history  lesson. 
The  story  begins  with  a  text  descrip- 
tion that  sets  up  the  scenario,  and 
then  it  displays  graphics  representing 
the  fragmented  country.  Mixing 
graphics  and  text  is  easy,  and  you  can 
prepare  and  save  screens  in  advance. 
Saving  and  loading  screens  is  as  sim- 
ple as  typing  S.4VEPAGE  and  LOAD- 
PAGE.  Pressing  a  key  takes  you  to  the 
next  scene  (or  page  in  LogoWriter  lin- 
go), where  the  student  can  choose  be- 
tween learning  about  the  Battle  of 
Gettysburg,  the  Battle  of  Vicksburg, 
the  surrender  of  Lee's  forces  at  Appo- 
mattox, or  Sherman's  burning  of  At- 
lanta, .\  single  command  in  your 
program  gets  the  student's  keypress. 

The  choice  branches  off  and  calls 
a  sequence  of  pages  that  represent  the 
topic.  You  can  easily  create  maps  and 
charts  with  the  multitude  of  graphics 
commands.  Turtles  provide  anima- 
tion to  illustrate  events,  and  musical 
tones  add  a  convincing  final  touch. 
You  can  have  all  the  stuff  of  a  Holly- 
wood presentation  with  the  impact  of 
muhimedia. 

One  of  the  benefits  of  creating 
presentations  with  Logo  is  that  not 
only  do  the  viewers  learn,  but  so  do 
the  creators.  Organizing  thoughts  and 
information  in  such  a  way  as  to  con- 
vincingly present  them  helps  solidify 
understanding  and  knowledge.  Fuzzy 
concepts  become  concrete  and  real 
after  you've  assembled  them  into  a 
program.  And  the  fact  that  Logo- 
li'riter  is  packed  with  so  many  easy- 
to-use  features  makes  it  an  ideal 
facilitator. 

The  scrapbook  metaphor  is  very 
effective  at  representing  disk  files. 
When  you  first  run  LogoWriter,  the 
program  displays  a  directory  of  pages 
to  select  from,  Included  on  the  pages 
are  the  scrapbook,  the  set  of  pro- 
grams, routines,  tools,  screen  images, 
and  projects.  You  can  link  these  into 
larger  parts  or  leave  them  as  stand- 


alone creations.  One  nice  touch  is  a 
startup  routine  that  will  automatically 
execute  a  page  when  it's  selected. 

LogoWriter  dedicates  a  section  of 
memory  to  user-defined  tools.  The 
tools  are  subroutines  that  you  write  to 
simplify  repetitive  program  routines. 
These  can  then  be  saved  as  a  page  and 
used  by  any  other  page.  Just  type 
GETTOOLS  and  they're  in  memory, 
completely  transparent  to  users.  For 
example,  you  could  create  a  routine 
called  MAKEDESIGN  and  save  it  as 
a  tool.  When  the  user  types  MAICE- 
DESIGN  50  45,  a  preprogrammed 
function  will  cause  a  complex  design 
to  form  at  screen  location  (50,45).  The 
tools  are  there  in  memory  for  the  stu- 
dent to  use  at  any  time. 


Your  geography  presentations  can  in- 
clude Informational  text  and  graphics. 

Educators  will  be  especially  hap- 
py to  hear  what's  in  the  school  pack- 
ages. First,  there's  a  complete  guide  to 
LogoWriter,  with  examples  and  full 
detail  on  implementation.  It's  more 
than  a  list  of  the  commands  and  the 
arguments;  it's  a  definitive  book  that 
will  answer  almost  every  question  you 
have  about  the  language.  The  includ- 
ed teachers'  guides  contain  the  major 
lesson-plan  components.  Objectives, 
procedures,  evaluation  techniques, 
and  enrichment  activities  are  all  in  the 
package — ^just  plug  them  into  the 
weekly  plan  book  and  you're  in 
business. 

The  activity  cards  provide  the 
curricular  structure  for  teaching  Logo. 
They  systematically  follow  through 
the  language  in  bite-sized  portions. 
The  activities  initially  introduce  sim- 
ple ideas  and  then  elaborate  on  those. 
It's  just  enough  to  get  the  creative 
juices  flowing.  With  the  right  instruc- 
tional nurturing,  the  students'  discov- 
ery process  should  flourish.  This  is 
what  education  is  all  about,  and  LCSI 
should  be  applauded  for  its  efforts  to- 
ward this  end. 

In  spite  of  the  positive  contribu- 
tions of  this  package,  I  have  some  crit- 
icisms. I've  always  been  frustrated 
when  dealing  with  Logo  variables. 
There's  nothing  that  you  can't  do  with 


them,  but  in  a  language  that  boasts 
simplicity  as  a  major  feature,  it  should 
be  easier  to  use  them.  I  realize  that 
LogoWriter  needs  to  retain  compati- 
bility with  other  versions  of  the  lan- 
guage, but  something  could  have  been 
done  to  make  using  variables  more 
intuitive,  ,4s  I  was  trying  to  push 
subroutines  to  the  limit  of  the  lan- 
guage, I  found  my  self  dealing  mostly 
with  awkward  and  clumsy  variable 
manipulations. 

A  compiler  is  another  important 
feature  missing  from  LogoWriter. 
What  we  need  is  the  ability  to  create 
stand-alone  programs  that  can  be  dis- 
tributed. A  compiler  would  let  stu- 
dents give  copies  of  their  Logo 
programs  to  friends  or  show  them  at 
events  such  as  science  fairs  without 
needing  a  copy  of  LogoWriter.  It 
would  also  give  programmers  the 
chance  to  write  commercial  software 
with  Logo. 

There's  another  omission,  an  es- 
pecially serious  one  for  what  should 
be  the  ultimate  structured  language: 
Logo  doesn't  have  a  set  of  structured 
control  devices.  WHILE,  DO,  and 
UNTIL  constructs  and  loops  aren't 
possible.  There's  a  way  to  fake  it  with 
clever  error-trapping,  but  that's  a  con- 
voluted process  compared  with  using 
the  types  of  controls  found  in  most 
structured  languages. 

In  spite  of  a  few  omissions,  Logo- 
Writer  deserves  a  place  along  with  the 
very  best  educational  tools.  In  an  age 
of  increased  pressure  on  schools,  this 
comprehensive  package  should  find 
its  way  into  every  curriculum.  Across- 
the-board-benefits  justify  its  cost,  and 
parents  interested  in  home  learning 
will  find  it  invaluable.  So,  get  your 
copy  for  home  and  lobby  for  your 
school  district  to  adopt  it.  We'll  be 
reaping  the  benefits  for  years  to  come. 


Home  Version 

Apple  II— $89 

IBM  PC  and  compatibles- 


-$S9 


UDGO  COMPUTER  SYSTEMS 
Distributed  by  SoftKat 
20630  Wordhoff  St. 
Chatsworth.CA  90025 
(800)641-1057 

School  Version 

Primary,  intermediate,  and  secondary 
school  versions  for  Apple  II  and  IBM  PC 
and  compatibles  are  available  starting  at 
SI  69.  For  more  information,  contact 

LOGO  COMPUTER  SYSTEMS 

1000  Roche  Blvd. 

9tti  Floor 

Vaudreuil,  Que. 

Canada  J7V  6B3 

{800)321-5646 

{514)455-5636 


B 


78 


C    O    M    P    U    T    E    I 


FEBRUARY 


9    9    0 


#  LEARNING 


DISCOVERIES 


DAVID 


STANTON 


Recently,  I  was  surprised  to 
find  a  well-known  com- 
puter columnist  writing 
disparagingly  about  the 
value  of  multimedia  in 
education.  Comparing  it 
to  the  failed  and  forgotten 
teaching  machines  of 
years  past,  he  pointed  out 
its  shortcomings  as  a  total 
education  solution.  He 
accused  Apple  of  overselling  the  con- 
cept. He  argued  that  computers  and 
the  current  interest  in  multimedia  ap- 
plications would  soon  fall  by  the  way- 
side. Computers,  after  all,  cannot 
teach,  and  he  seemed  to  thinly  it  was 
time  we  accepted  that  fact. 

As  an  educator,  I  found  myself 
applauding  his  high  regard  for  teach- 
ers. Anyone  who  thinks  that  technol- 
ogy alone  can  maintain  discipline  in  a 
roomful  of  sophomores  has  never 
taught  a  high  school  class.  .Anyone 
who  imagines  that  a  CPU,  a  monitor, 
and  a  mouse  can  magically  turn  apa- 
thy into  enthusiasm  has  never  at- 
tempted to  instruct  the  unmotivated. 
Anyone  who  expects  a  PC,  a  VCR,  a 
laser  disc,  and  a  spider's  web  of  cables 
to  transform  mediocrity  into  excel- 
lence doesn't  understand  the  compli- 
cated processes  of  learning.  Effective 
teaching  has  always  required  a  human 
touch,  and  it  will  continue  to  do  so 
until  technology  develops  far  beyond 
its  current  limitations. 

Computers,  isolated  and  unassist- 
ed, cannot  teach.  Nor  can  films  or 
filmstrips,  educational  TV,  or  slide 
shows  with  synchronized  sound  and 
music.  Likewise,  buildings  don't 
teach,  whether  they're  libraries  or  mu- 
seums or  universities.  Textbooks  and 
overhead  projectors  don't  teach, 
either.  Like  multimedia,  these  tools 
become  effective  only  when  employed 
by  skilled  teachers  who  know  what  to 
teach  and  how  to  teach  it. 

However,  admitting  that  tools 
have  limitations  doesn't  mean  dis- 
carding them  as  valueless.  Computers 
haven't  turned  every  child  into  a  ge- 
nius, but  they  have  permitted  schools 
to  prepare  teens  for  work  in  a  modern 


world.  It's  safe  to  say  that  multimedia 
applications  will  not  solve  all  educa- 
tional problems,  either. 

Nevertheless,  if  we  expect  schools 
to  remain  effective,  then  society  must 
continue  to  provide  educators  with 
the  professional  tools  necessary  for 
doing  their  job.  Increasingly,  those 
professional  tools  include  computers, 
scanners,  laser  printers,  CD-ROM 
players,  videodisc  players,  sound  digi- 
tizers, and  the  software  they  require. 

Once  provided  with  proper 
equipment,  teachers  can  begin  experi- 
menting with  multimedia  approaches 
to  see  what  works  and  what  doesn't. 
Traditionally,  educators  have  been 
open  to  new  technologies  while  main- 
taining a  healthy  skepticism.  That  mix 
of  openness  balanced  by  a  "show  me" 
attitude  explains  why' desktop  pub- 
lishing is  only  now  gaining  strong  sup- 
port after  years  of  proving  itself  in 
business.  Considering  the  large  invest- 
ment required,  educators  should  have 


ample  time  to  evaluate  the  technology 
before  schools  waste  significant  tax 
dollars  on  unnecessary  equipment. 

In  any  case,  the  multimedia 
movement  has  at  least  two  major 
things  going  for  it.  First,  today's  edu- 
cators and  developers  recognize  that 
teaching  and  learning  are  complex,  in- 
terrelated processes  that  require  a 
multiplicity  of  approaches  to  reach 


children  with  different  backgrounds 
and  interests.  Second,  investments  in 
hardware  provide  a  double  benefit  be- 
cause students  and  teachers  can  use 
the  same  equipment  to  run  packaged 
products  and  to  produce  their  own 
presentations.  Judging  from  current 
literature  and  experience,  multimedia 
may  prove  most  efieclive  in  situations 
where  students  design,  research,  write, 
and  produce,  rather  than  ones  where 
they  mcrcty  work  with  the  products  of 
others. 

That  brings  us  back  to  the  rela- 
tionship between  teacher,  learner,  and 
learning  tools,  whether  those  tools  be 
books,  filmstrips.  or  multimedia 
worlds.  Ultimately,  even  teachers  may 
not  really  teach  as  much  as  they  pro- 
vide opportunities  and  environments 
in  which  students  can  and  will  learn. 

Don't  misunderstand — I'm  not 
arguing  against  healthy  skepticism 
about  multimedia  solutions,  or  any 
other  untested  educational  approach, 
for  that  matter.  We've  all  seen  schools 
jump  on  and  off  loo  many  bandwag- 
ons to  accept  every  new  trend  with 
open  arms.  But  skepticism  should  not 
mean  blind  rejection. 

When  computers  first  started 
trickling  into  schools,  I  was  very  skep- 
tical. No  one  knows  belter  than  teach- 
ers the  depressing  lows  that  inevitably 
follow  each  unwarranted  high  engen- 
dered by  those  who  promise  loo  much 
and  know  loo  little.  It  took  lime,  but 
teachers  found  a  proper  role  for  com- 
puters. Keyboarding  classes  replaced 
typing  courses  as  educators  and  policy 
makers  discovered  the  benefits  of 
word  processing.  Elcmcniars'  teachers 
found  that  students  who  couldn't  sit 
still  to  do  math  work  sheets  could 
spend  an  er^ire  [>eriod  practicing 
those  same  skills  while  playing  com- 
puter bowling.  English  teachers  real- 
ized that  spelling  checkers  could 
provide  extra  help  for  poor  spellers. 

So  what  about  multimedia?  Can 
it  find  a  place  in  tomorrow's  class- 
rooms? Maybe  so.  Maybe  not.  But 
anything  that  offers  hope  for  helping 
teachers  teach  and  learners  learn  de- 
serves a  fair  chance.  Q 


FEBRUARY        1990 


COMPUTE 


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VA.   >- 


illustraton  by  David  Povilartis 


BUIIDING  BRIDGES 


HOWARD  MILLMAN 


s  recently  as  six  years  ago,  the  tech- 
nology that  expanded  the  world  of 
disabled  people  was  no  more  ad- 
vanced than  it  was  in  medieval 
times.  Today,  breakthroughs  in 
computer  technology  enhance  the 
quality  of  life  for  many  handicapped 
people.  Computers  also  throw  open 
,  doors  to  new  educational  and  em- 
I  ployment  opportunities. 
"Since  the  beginning  of  time,  people  who 
had  severe  disabilities  were  measured  by  what 
they  couldn't  do.  Now  we  look  at  what  a  person 
can  do,  no  matter  how  minimal,  and  bring  tech- 
nology to  augment  their  diminished  abilities." 
says  Bud  Rizer,  director  of  the  Technology  Re- 
source Office  in  the  Maryland  Rehabilitation 
Center.  Without  technology,  the  disabled  would 
still  be  relegated  to  pointing  at  picture  boards  or 
suffering  the  frustration  of  communicating 
through  incoherent  gestures. 

In  the  past  six  years,  we've  seen  an  explo- 
sion in  the  amount  and  sophistication  of  tech- 
nology crafted  to  help  the  disabled  people  in  our 
society.  Most  of  the  recent  advances  arc  in  two 
product  categories:  assistive  devices  that  com- 
pensate for  decreased  mobility  and  adaptive 
devices  which  are  designed  to  advance  commun- 
ication skills. 

These  devices  increase  the  self-confidence  of 
disabled  people  and  amplify  their  sense  of  con- 
trol over  their  environment.  "With  speech  syn- 
thesis and  text-to-specch  converters,  we  are 
seeing  handicapped  children  come  alive."  says 
Sidney  Schneider,  a  language  pathologist  at  the 
Everhart  School  for  exceptional  children  in  Tal- 
lahassee, Florida.  "Sclf-c'stecni  is  a  wonderful 
word  to  describe  the  kids'  reactions.  Their  facial 
expressions  say  "Hey,  I'm  not  locked  in  this  un- 
responsive body — I  do  have  control  over  my 
environment.'" 


Goal  Seeking  and  Game  Playing 

Technology's  implied  goal  is  to  increase  the 
amount  and  quality  of  time  that  disabled  people 
spend  interacting  with  others.  Schneider  uses 
computer  games  to  decrease  the  unrewarding 
hours  kids  spend  alone  and  to  provide  them  with 
a  measure  of  achievement.  "Game  playing  pro- 
duces a  causc-and-effcct  relationship.  The  kids 
say  to  themselves.  'If  I  push  this  button,  I  will  see 
the  results  of  my  action  on  that  screen.'  " 

For  handicapped  children,  game  playing 
serves  as  a  bridge  to  other  kids,  an  entertaining 
expedient  to  communicating  and  finding  com- 
panionship. The  computer  functions  as  a  transla- 
tor, shrinking  the  difTerences  between  main- 
stream and  handicapped  kids. 

Molly  Shannon,  a  teacher  in  the  Hurst- 
Eulcss,  Bedford  School  District  in  Texas,  attach- 
es even  greater  significance  to  game  playing. 
"For  the  physically  handicapped  child,  there  are 
not  many  opportunities  to  play.  Playing  is  an  im- 
portant part  of  a  child's  day,"  Shannon  says.  "If 
you  can't  play,  you  cannot  learn  how  your  body 
works.  .A.nd  there  arc  many  other  things  they 
miss,  things  like  social  interaction." 

Shannon  and  Schneider  see  technology  as  a 
tool,  a  means  of  delivering  needed  services  to  the 
disabled.  And,  just  as  a  key  unlocks  a  door,  tech- 
nology unlocks  potential. 

"Whether  it's  computers  or  computer 
games,  the  goal  is  to  allow  teachers,  therapists, 
and  clinicians  to  exploit  technology's  capacity  in 
returning  and  integrating  the  disabled  back  into 
society,"  explains  Dr.  Michael  Behrmann,  direc- 
tor of  the  Center  for  Human  Disabilities  at 
George  Mason  University  in  Fairfax,  Virginia. 
"This  includes  the  recreational,  living,  and  work 
environments.  With  remote-control  devices,  the 
disabled  can  control  lighting,  TVs,  heating,  and 
air  conditioning:  open  doors;  or  perform  a  multi- 
tude of  everyday  tasks."  t> 


TECHNOLOGY  LINKS  DISABLED 
PEOPLE  TO  THE  WORLD 


COMPUTE 


63 


BUILDING  BRIDGES 


S4       COMPUTE 


Technology's  Solutions  and  Shortcomings 

The  wizardry  of  technology  provides  help  for 
children  and  adults  who  sulTer  from  speech,  mo- 
tor control,  visual/aural,  emotional,  or  learning 
problems.  Within  each  of  these  groups,  educators 
employ  computers  in  a  distinct  way. 

To  compensate  for  inadequate  motor  con- 
trol, solutions  range  from  oversized  keyboards 
(with  one-inch  square  keys);  mouth-,  foot-,  and 
head-activated  switches;  and  breath-operated 
switches.  Disabled  children  can  even  control 
Nintendo  games  with  an  adaptive  device  that 
combines  a  puff  switch  with  a  chin-operated  joy- 
stick. By  using  head-  or  limb-activated  switches, 
infants  as  young  as  ten  months  old  can  use  tech- 
nology to  ask  for  attention  or  operate  toys. 

Voice  commands  aug- 
mented by  speech-recognition 
devices  assist  speech-impaired 
kids.  The  sounds  need  not  be 
recognizable  as  words;  all  the 
computer  needs  are  uniform, 
repeatable  sounds. 

If  users  aren't  visually  im- 
paired, they  can  use  speech 
recognition  to  perform  gainful 
work  in  offices  (interacting 
with  computerized  data)  and 
in  industry  (especially  in  qual- 
ity-control tasks).  These  de- 
vices also  allow  handicapped 
people  to  participate  in  con- 
versations with  others. 

Given  the  results  that  can 
be  achieved  with  technology. 
why  isn't  it  more  widely  em- 
ployed? The  answer  has  two 
components:  inadequate  train- 
ing and  inadequate  funding. 

In  competition  with 
many  other  academic  pro- 
grams for  scant  budget  dollars, 
programs  for  handicapped 
kids  suffer  because  of  a  flawed 
image.  One  speech-language 
therapist  in  a  Westchester 
County,  New  York,  school 
district,  believes  much  of  the 
funding  problem  stems  from  a  lack  of  "glamor." 
In  an  unusually  candid  observation,  she  says, 
"Daily,  wc  face  the  reality  that  funding  for  pro- 
grams to  aid  the  handicapped  is  not  popular. 
What's  worse,  if  by  some  miracle  we  do  achieve  a 
superior  program,  parents,  desperately  seeking  the 
best  opportunities  for  their  children,  move  into 
the  school  district  and  overtax  the  program's  re- 
sources. School  boards  frown  on  such  'success.' " 

Maryann  McCandless,  special  education 
technology  assistant  for  the  City  of  Hartford, 
Connecticut,  strives  to  make  the  best  of  her  lim- 
ited equipment  and  funding.  Her  school  district 
has  30  computers  allocated  to  special  education 
students  spread  among  the  district's  30  schools. 
Yet  McCandless  remains  optimistic;  she  feels 
that  the  administration  is  sympathetic,  and  she 
has  achieved  modest  success  raising  funds  from 
private  and  government  sources.  "Realistically,  I 

JANUARY       1990 


don't  expect  to  ever  acquire  the  topnotch  level  of 
technology  I'd  like  to  achieve,  but  I  will  never- 
theless continue  to  seek  outside  funding 
sources,"  she  says. 

One  source  of  funding  is  the  federally  fi- 
nanced Technology-Related  Assistance  Bill.  Ad- 
ministered by  the  National  Institute  of 
Disabilities  and  Rehabilitation  Research 
(NIDRR),  the  Tech  Act  provides  funding  for 
states  to  develop  a  coherent  technology-infor- 
mation and  -dissemination  resource  program. 
To  date,  nine  states  have  received  $500,000 
grants.  During  the  life  of  the  act,  all  49  slates  that 
applied  initially  will  receive  similar  funding. 

Many  people  interviewed  spend  some  por- 
tion of  their  time  fund-raising.  While  no  accurate 
statistics  exist,  these  people 
said  that  they  spend  10  to  20 
percent  of  their  time  influenc- 
ing budget  committees  or  writ- 
ing grant  proposals.  Some- 
times it's  on  behalf  of  an 
entire  program;  other  times 
the  efforts  are  for  several  espe- 
cially deserving  children. 
McCandless  says,  "I  deal  with 
some  kids  who  are  very  im- 
paired. Kids  who  live  in  the 
inner  city  and  endure  not  only 
their  handicap  but  poverty 
and  family  troubles  as  well." 
McCandless  champions  the 
cause  of  these  kids  as  she  tries 
to  find  outside  funding 
sources.  Only  sometimes  is 
she  successful. 

More  hardware  and  soft- 
ware constitutes  only  one  part 
of  the  solution.  To  exploit 
technology's  potential,  the 
profession  admittedly  needs 
more  trained  personnel.  "The 
present  level  of  training  is  not 
adequate,"  says  Behrmann,  of 
the  Center  for  Human  Dis- 
abilities in  Virginia.  "There  is 
a  crying  need  for  trained  per- 
sonnel so  we  can  infuse  tech- 
nology, where  appropriate,  into  new  and  existing 
programs."  As  is  often  the  case,  technology  has 
progressed  faster  than  people  can  be  trained  to 
use  it. 

.As  a  partial  solution,  Behrmann  suggests 
using  expert  systems,  a  branch  of  artificial  intelli- 
gence, to  reduce  the  demands  upon  the  limited 
pool  of  trained  teachers  and  clinicians.  In  expert 
systems,  the  expert  transfers  his  or  her  knowledge 
into  a  computer  program.  Then,  guided  by  this  re- 
corded knowledge,  less-trained  people  determine 
the  subject's  abilities  and  implement  specific 
goals.  Theoretically,  the  program  delivers  the 
same  recommendations  as  the  expert  would  if  the 
expert  were  available. 

Expert  systems,  while  far  from  foolproof,  do 
work.  And,  once  debugged  through  constant 
honing,  they  can  significantly  broaden  the  distri- 
bution of  professional  services,  [> 


BUILDING  BRIDGES 


Perhaps  the  most  promising  embryonic 
technology  is  neural  networking.  Unlike  regular 
computer  programs,  which  dutifully  execute  in- 
structions, neural  networks  imitate  the  human 
brain.  They  can,  for  instance,  learn  from  past  er- 
rors, execute  midcourse  corrections,  and  recog- 
nize patterns. 

Complicated,  and  far  from  perfected,  neural 
networks  hold  the  greatest  promise  for  the  quali- 
ty oflifc  of  handicapped  people.  In  addition  to 
providing  tangible  assistance,  computers  benefit 
the  disabled  indirectly  by  allowing  teachers  to  be 
more  effective.  Using  neural  networks,  the  com- 
puter temporarily  becomes  the  child's  instructor 
and  allows  the  teacher  more  time  to  deal  with 
other  children.  Likewise,  computers  also  simpli- 
fy teaching  children  with  varied  intellectual  skills 
or  children  of  mixed  physical  abilities.  And  since 
computers  are  nonjudgmental,  children  do  not 
feel  rejection  when  a  machine,  with  a  bell  or  a 
beep,  reveals  their  errors. 

Hardware,  too,  continues  to  advance.  Inten- 
sified research  efTorts  result  in  unprecedented 
new  developments,  such  as  those  listed  below. 

■  L.  C.  Technology's  acclaimed  EyeGaze  System 
lets  a  computer  accept  input  based  oii  eye 
movement.  While  a  person  focuses  on  a  partic- 
ular character,  word,  or  icon  on  a  monitor, 
low-power  infrared  waves  read  the  eyes'  posi- 
tion. At  the  same  time,  special  software  corre- 
lates the  line  of  sight  with  the  targeted 
reference  point  on  the  monitor  and  displays 
the  related  information.  The  system  enters 
words  on  a  monitor  and  activates  appliances 
in  accordance  with  these  EyeGaze  commands. 

■  Scanning  instruments  read  text  directly  from  a 
printed  page,  enlarge  the  characters,  and  dis- 
play the  text  on  a  monitor. 

■  Prab/Heath/Zenith's  robotic  arm  activates 
switches  and  appliances  as  well  as  grasps  ob- 
jects, answers  the  telephone,  and  even  feeds 
severely  disabled  people.  The  device  is  con- 
trolled by  voice  commands. 

■  Text-to-speech  converters,  such  as  IBM's 
Screen  Reader,  "speak"  the  words  displayed 
on  the  monitor  screen. 

McCandless  describes  the  awe  some  of  these 
devices  inspire.  "We  find  students  talking  to  the 
machines.  In  one  case,  a  little  girl  was  directed  by 
a  speech  synthesizer  to  touch  a  circle.  She  com- 
plied, then  leaned  into  the  speaker  and  said  'I 
did.  What  do  you  think?'  " 

Behrmann  relates  a  story  about  a  35-year- 
old  retarded  man  who  was  physically  unable  to 
communicate.  "We  suspected  he  knew  how  to 
read  and  write,  but,  since  he  was  unable  to  ex- 
press himself,  we  never  knew  it.  When  provided 
access  to  a  computer  and  adaptive  devices,  the 
man  surprised  us  by  writing  an  article  for  the 
training  center's  newsletter." 

By  allowing  the  disabled  to  communicate, 
computers  impart  a  sense  of  accomplishment. 
Properly  applied  (and  that  denotes  using  skilled 
instructors  along  with  the  proper  equipment), 
technology  decreases  drudgery  and  increases 
motivation. 


Product-Information  Sources 

The  following  organizations  offer  informafon 
about  computer  options  for  people  with  special 
needs. 

■  The  Council  for  Exceptional  Children,  Divi- 
sion of  Special  Education  Technology  in  Reston, 
Virginia  (800-873-8255),  distributes  technical 
information  on  adaptive  and  assistive  devices  as 
well  as  on  locating  services  and  resources. 

■  TRACE  Center,  in  Madison,  Wisconsin 
(608-262-6966),  is  a  branch  of  the  University  of 
Wisconsin.  This  organization  publishes  the  800- 
page  TRACE  Resource  directory  ($49),  a  com- 
prehensive compilation  of  assistive/adaptive 
devices  as  well  as  service  agencies.  It  also  pro- 
vides free  information  on  finding  local  assistance 
throughout  the  United  States. 

■  IBM's  National  Support  Center  for  Per- 
sons with  Disabilities  in  Atlanta,  Georgia  (800- 
IBM-2133  or  404-988-2733),  provides  informa- 
tion about  a  broad  assortment  of  hardware, 
adapttve/assistive  equipment,  and  agencies. 
IBM  Special  Needs  Exchange  also  has  an  elec- 
tronic bulletin  board  which  you  can  contact  at 
(614)433-0851. 

■  Ediinc's  Bulletin  Board  System  and 
trained  researchers  offer  advice  on  the  availa- 
bility and  applicability  of  educational  software  for 
mainstream  and  special-education  students.  Ed- 
line's  expanding  databases  presently  hold  de- 
tailed information  on  1000  programs  supplied  by 
more  than  100  software  publishers.  Thie  voice 
number  is  (800)  736-1405.  Schools  and  other  ac- 
credited institutions  can  tap  into  Ediinc's  BBS  to 
perform  ttieir  own  searches  and  read  topical  on- 
line reports.  Call  to  apply  for  access  instructions 
and  a  password. 

■  The  U.S.  Department  of  Commerce  and 
Office  of  Personnel  Management,  Washington, 
D.C.  (202-377-5691 ,  contact;  Mark  Sakaley), 
hosts  an  annual  exhibition  and  conference  on 
computers  and  other  technologies  designed  to 
aid  the  handicapped.  About  50  vendors  and  or- 
ganizations participate.  The  exhibition  is  held  in 
Washington  on  the  first  Thursday  in  October. 

■  Contact  Prab/Heath/Zenith  at  P.O.  Box 
377,  St.  Joseph,  Michigan  49085;  (616)  982-3341. 

■  Contact  L  C.  Technologies  at  4415  Glenn 
Rose  Street,  Fairfax,  Virginia  22032;  (703) 
425-7509. 


With  the  right  mix  of  hardware,  software, 
and  expertise,  kids  and  adults  with  disabilities 
can  participate  in  the  same  kinds  of  activities  as 
their  peers  do.  They  achieve  the  ability  to  reach 
beyond  their  own  physical  limitations  and  enter 
worlds  long  closed  to  them. 

McCandless  poignantly  describes  the  future: 
"Handicapped  children  will  always  be  special, 
but  it  need  no  longer  be  because  they  are  less  a 
person  than  any  other  child."  0 

Howard  Millman  works  for  Columbia  University  in  New 
York  and  frequently  contributes  to  several  national  com- 
puter magazines. 


FEBRUARY       1990 


COMPUTE 


85 


Blood,  Sw( 


Enter  the  present.lense. 

Accolade  has  crafted  two  con- 
temporary role  playing  games 
that  are  guaranteed  to  raise  your 
heart  rate  and  send  shivers 
down  your  spine. 


Your  mission?  Track  down 
the  Third  Qjurier— a  ruthless 
assassin  hiding  out  in  modem- 
day  Beriin  with  hijacked  NATO 
defense  plans.  He  murdered 
two  couriers  to  get  them.  Now 

AcUrilBJUifrKrKfqfminlBMPCEtiAvCfiflnotlhcBimeOttifrvBMoraT^^vDy 


Or  maybe  you'd  lilce  to  go 
some  place  scary?  Really  scary? 

Journey  to  the  haunted  house 
on  the  hill  in  Don't  Co  Alone™ 
Your  Grandtatlier  went  mad 


Contemporary  themes. 
Mystery'.  Depth.  Non-stop  action. 
If  you're  looking  for  adventure, 
Accolade  has  the  perfect  role 
models. 

How  to  order :  Visit  your  favor- 
ite retailer  or  call  800-245-7744. 

The  best  in  entertainment  sofhviire.''' 


Circle  Reader  Service  Number  133 


#  lEARNING 


HOME 


HINTS 


AND 


P     S 


FROM 


OUR 


READERS 


Jean  Piaget.  a  develop- 
mental psychologist,  felt 
that  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant factors  in  a  child's 
development  was  estab- 
lishing a  relationship  be- 
tween causes  and  effects. 
You  can  give  your  kids  an 
edge  with  several  simple 
computer-based  exercises 
geared  toward  helping 
them  understand  this  relationship. 

To  start,  run  a  paint  program  and 
set  it  to  a  simple  drawing  mode.  Place 
your  child's  hand  on  the  mouse.  Use  a 
gentle  touch  to  guide  your  child's 
hand,  moving  the  mouse  pointer 
smoothly  from  side  to  side.  With 
ever-diminishing  help,  ask  your  child 
to  position  the  pointer  in  different 
portions  of  the  screen.  Make  sure  you 
explain  the  difference  between  the 
canvas  section,  where  you  do  the  actu- 
al drawing,  and  the  drawing-tool 
icons. 

With  basic  coordination  under 
control,  instruct  your  child  to  position 
the  pointer  al  the  left  side  of  the  draw- 
ing area  and  to  hold  the  button  down 
and  move  to  the  opposite  side.  You 
may  want  to  guide  your  child  through 
exploring  various  drawing  directions 
and  lengths,  or  you  might  prefer  just 
standing  by  and  watching  as  your 
child  explores  and  tries  things  alone. 
Both  are  valuable  approaches,  and  I 
suggest  trying  each. 

Of  the  remaining  tools  available, 
lines,  boxes,  and  circles  will  be  the 
easiest  things  to  master.  Your  child 
should  gain  control  sooner  if  you 
coach  a  little.  Show  the  difference  be- 
tween making  small  squares  or  large 
circles.  Specific  tasks  pro\'ide  better 
training  than  random  doodling. 

Getting  the  kids  to  choose  the 
drawing  color  increases  the  fun  (and 
subsequent  learning)  tenfold.  Soon  ab- 
stract lines  become  recognizable  pic- 
tures, and  minutes  spent  with  the 
progiam  become  hours. 

The  link  between  the  mouse  on 
the  desk  (cause)  and  the  art  on  the 
screen  (effect)  should  become  firmly 
entrenched  as  time  goes  by.  With  a  lit- 


tle help  and  explanation  from  you, 
your  child  should  have  a  good  under- 
standing of  this  basic,  but  important, 
concept. 

A  Family  Pafnting 

Once  the  kids  are  comfortable  with 
mousing  around  the  screen,  you  might 
want  to  involve  them  in  a  fun  learning 
activity  that  your  entire  family  can  en- 
joy. Each  person  participating  will 
lake  turns  adding  pieces  to  a  develop- 
ing picture.  The  learning  comes  from 
nurturing  the  creativity  and  adapta- 
tion necessary  to  introduce  a  new  cle- 
ment into  an  existing  scenario.  The 


fun  results  from  a  unique  creation 
that's  a  result  of  a  group  effort,  and 
the  inevitable  interaction  among  the 
artists. 

Begin  by  running  your  art  pro- 
gram. You  can  cither  decide  on  a 
theme  beforehand  or  let  it  develop  as 
you  go.  If  you  want  to  choose  the  top- 
ic in  advance,  lake  turns  picking,  or 
put  a  bunch  of  ideas  in  a  hat  and  do  a 
random  drawing.  Decide  who  goes 
first  and  the  order  in  which  turns  will 
be  taken.  You  can  even  take  turns  set- 
ting the  palette  colors,  if  your  paint 


program  allows  you  to  do  this. 

Having  rules  for  each  turn  adds 
an  element  of  structure,  but  a  lack  of 
restriction  may  enhance  creativity. 
Here  arc  some  suggested  guidelines, 
should  you  want  some  rules.  Try  bas- 
ing each  addition  on  a  shape.  Write 
various  shapes  on  slips  of  paper  and 
pull  one  out  of  a  hat  each  turn.  You 
could  also  incorporate  colors — the 
slips  of  paper  could  read  RED  TRI- 
ANGLE or  BLUE  CIRCLE.  You 
could  even  base  drawings  on  a  set  of 
clip  art.  Randomly  select  from  several 
pieces  of  clip  art;  then  touch  them  up 
once  they're  in  the  big  picture. 

To  enhance  the  educational  value 
of  this  exercise,  you  might  want  to 
stress  beforehand  that  the  artwork 
shouldn't  be  purely  random.  It's  im- 
portant to  make  sure  that  ihe  partici- 
pants recognize  the  ideas  and  themes 
that  others  have  introduced  to  the  art- 
work, .Adhering  to  these  or  elaborating 
on  them  will  make  for  a  more  unified 
final  picture. 

When  is  the  painting  finished?  It 
might  be  a  good  idea  to  have  a  specific 
number  of  turns,  or  the  process  might 
drag  on  forever.  Saving  the  picture  be- 
tween turns  is  a  good  idea.  If  someone 
makes  a  major  mistake,  you  can  re- 
load the  previous  version. 

What  should  you  do  with  your 
masterpiece?  You  can  upload  the  file 
to  bulletin  boards  or  online  scn'ices. 
Make  printouts  and  send  them  to 
family  friends  and  relatives.  Keep  a 
collection  so  you  can  see  how  things 
develop  over  time.  Put  the  collection 
on  disk  and  send  it  to  people  who 
have  computers  and  compatible  art 
programs.  See  if  you  can  get  other 
groups  to  do  the  same  thing — some 
healthy  competition  could  be  fun. 
Richard  C.  Leinecker 
K  'imson-Salem.  NC 

Do  you  have  advice  thai  makes  a  bet- 
ter teacher  out  of  your  PC?  If  so.  we'd 
like  to  hear  from  you.  Send  your  lip, 
no  matter  how  brief  to  COMPUTE! 
Feedback,  P.O.  Bo.\ 5406,  Greensboro, 
North  Carolina  27403,  If  republish 
your  suggestion,  we  'II  send  yoit  a  gift.  B 


88 


COMPUTE! 


FEBRUARY       1990 


REVIEWS 


WRITE  WELL,  PLAY  GAMES,  FIGHT  MONDU,  ADVENTURE 

WITH  INDY,  TAKE  COVER,  MANAGE  MONEY,  BATTLE  DOH, 

PREVIEW  PAGES,  SAVE  SAN  FRANCISCO,  AND  MORE, 


QUITEWRITE  2.0 

Parsons  Technology's 
Quite  Write  is  a  basic 
word  processor  with 
some  nifty  features  for 
the  money.  Unfortunate- 
ly, while  the  program  has 
a  lot  of  positive  aspects, 
those  features  are  ham- 
pered by  some  limitations. 
Quite  Write  has  the 
basic  features  you'd  ex- 
pect in  any  word  processor.  The  pro- 
gram also  features  a  100, 000- word 
spelling  checker,  mail-merge  capabili- 
ty, and  automatic  document  save  and 
backup. 

The  unique  repeat  feature  makes 
repetitive  operations  easy.  In  most 
word  processors,  you  must  define  a 
block  of  text  before  you  can  copy, 
move,  or  manipulate  it  in  any  way. 
You  can  do  that  in  QuiteWrite,  but  if 
you  know  in  advance  how  many  lines 
you're  changing,  use  the  repeat  fea- 
ture. Enter  the  number  of  lines  you 
want  the  command  to  act  on;  then 
choose  the  command.  While  this  isn't 
practical  in  all  cases,  I  found  it  to  be  a 
real  timesaver. 

QuiteWrite  is  a  menu-driven  pro- 
gram. However,  you  can  set  the  time 
interval  between  pressing  the  ESC  key 
and  the  menu's  appearance.  If  you 
know  the  first  letter  of  a  command 
and  press  it  before  the  menu  appears, 
you  can  continue  choosing  commands 
this  way  without  having  to  go  through 
several  menu  levels  on  the  screen.  For 
example,  after  you've  used  the  pro- 
gram for  a  while,  you  know  you  can 
change  your  document's  line  spacing 
to  double  by  pressing,  in  order,  ESC, 
A,  S,  and  then  D. 

Rather  than  a  plain,  mono- 
chrome screen,  QuiteWrite  shows 


physical  page  breaks  on  the  screen, 
and  you  can  use  the  Setup  feature  to 
choose  background  and  foreground 
screen  colors,  and  colors  to  represent 
underlined,  bold,  and  italic  text. 

The  Display  command  brings  up 
a  screen  that  gives  you  all  the  infor- 
mation you'd  want  to  know  about 
your  file — even  the  first  line  of  text 
currently  stored  in  the  paste  buffer. 
From  this  screen  you  can  activate  a 
timed  automatic-save  feature  and 


You  can  easily  choose  commands  and 
modify  your  text  with  QuItBVirltB. 

choose  whether  you  want  a  backup 
copy  of  your  document  created  when 
saving. 

A  date-insert  feature  lets  you 
place  the  current  date  anywhere  in 
your  file.  The  date  is  automatically 
updated  whenever  you  print  the 
document. 

You  can  exit  to  DOS,  execute  a 
command,  and  then  return  to  Qiiile- 
Write  with  a  single  keystroke.  You'I! 
never  appreciate  this  feature  more 
than  when  your  document  disk  is  too 
full  for  your  current  file  and  you  need 
to  format  a  new  disk  to  save  your 
work. 

Finally,  QuiteWrite  has  a  nice 
way  of  letting  you  insert  special  ASCII 
characters  into  your  text:  You  use  the 
cursor  keys  to  select  the  one  you  want 
from  a  pop-up  box  thai  appears  and 


then  press  Enter. 

Unfortunately,  some  oi  Quite- 
Write'^ features  are  limited.  You  can 
create  macros,  for  example,  but  you 
can  have  only  ten  macros  per  file,  and 
these  can  contain  a  total  of  only  256 
keystrokes. 

Instead  of  moving  or  copying  text 
in  one  step,  QuiteWrite  makes  you  se- 
lect and  cut  a  text  block,  then  use  the 
paste  command  to  insert  it  into  an- 
other location.  And,  though  your  doc- 
ument can  contain  headers  and 
footers,  they're  limited  to  one  line  in 
length.  A  split-window  feature  that 
lets  you  open  two  files  at  once  is  a  nice 
feature,  but  it  takes  several  keystrokes 
to  move  between  the  files  (unless  you 
assign  the  commands  to  two  of  your 
valuable  macros). 

The  worst  offender  is  the  manual. 
It's  missing  the  simplest  things  (a  key- 
stroke-reference chart)  and  the  most 
necessary  (step-by-step  examples  ex- 
plaining how  use  the  commands). 
Also,  much  of  the  information  it  does 
provide  is  downright  confusing,  or  in 
some  cases,  inaccurate.  While  some  of 
this  information  is  available  in  an  on- 
hne  help  file,  being  able  to  access  ref- 
erence material  without  having  to 
leave  your  file  seems  a  better 
arrangement. 

Although  this  is  a  passable  begin- 
ner's word  processor  with  some  neat 
features  to  recommend  it,  its  manual 
is  woefully  inadequate.  But  if  you're 
willing  to  jump  in  and  do  a  lot  of  ex- 
perimenting, the  price  is  right. 

LYNNE  FRE^' 


IBM  PC  and  compatibles— $49  plus  $5 
shipping 

PARSONS  TECHNOtiaGV 
372  Collins  Hd,  NE 
Cedar  Rapids,  lA  52402 
{319)395-9626 


FEBRUARY        1990 


C    O    M    P    U    T    E    I 


THE  PIAYRDOM 

Your  imaginative  six-year- 
old  is  sick  of  his  toys. 
Your  four-year-old  re- 
fuses to  learn  to  count 
past  3.  Your  precocious 
two-year-old  wants  to 
learn  to  spell.  What's  a 
parent  to  do? 
Buy  The  Playroom 
from  Broderbund,  and 
watch  the  toys  come  to 
life  to  teach  and  entertain  your  pre- 
schoolers. With  a  little  help  from 
Mom  or  Dad,  a  six-year-old  shouldn't 
have  trouble  with  any  of  the  game  ele- 
ments in  this  package.  A  four-year-old 
might  need  to  sit  on  your  lap  and  play 
it  with  you.  My  two-year-old  couldn't 
do  it  himself,  but  he  enjoyed  telling 
me  what  he  wanted  to  do. 

The  fun  begins  with  the  opening 
screen.  There  are  toys  in  the  toy  box, 
books  on  the  shelves,  a  computer  on 
the  child-size  table,  a  bed,  a  clock,  a 
radio,  and  a  few  things  never  seen  in 
any  ordinary,  real-life  kid's  room. 
Move  your  pointer  around  the  room 
and  interesting  things  begin  to  hap- 
pen. Some  of  the  playroom  surprises 
are  accompanied  by  digitized  sounds, 
an  added  plus  that  doesn't  require  any 
special  hardware.  Six  game  options — 
the  ABC  Book,  the  Mixed-Up  Toy, 
the  Spinner  Toy,  the  Mousehole,  the 
Cuckoo  Clock,  and  the  Computer — 
await  children  exploring  this  play- 
room paradise. 

The  ABC  Book  was  far  and  away 
my  favorite  game  option.  You  are  pre- 
sented with  a  choice  of  two  scenes, 
either  a  medieval  castle  or  a  modern 
street.  Select  a  letter,  and  a  picture  be- 
ginning with  that  letter  appears.  By 
clicking  on  the  picture,  your  child  can 
place  it  in  the  scene.  Removing  a  pic- 
ture is  as  simple  as  selecting  it  and 
moving  it  to  the  trash  can;  remove  all 
the  pictures  by  selecting  the  garbage 
truck.  You  can  print  out  completed 
pictures,  too. 

Another  creative  game  option  is 
the  Mixed-Up  Toy.  You're  presented 
with  a  toy  that's  divided  into  three 
parts:  head,  body,  and  tegs.  Select  the 
head,  and  every  time  you  strike  the 
Enter  key,  a  new  head  appears.  The 
same  thing  happens  with  the  body 
and  legs.  There's  also  an  option  you 
can  choose  that  will  mix  up  the  toy  for 
you.  I  can  see  two  small  boys  getting 
together  with  this  option  and  having  a 
laugh  riot  over  the  crazy  combina- 
tions they  come  up  with. 

The  Spinner  Toy  is  a  simple 
counting  game  with  four  difficulty 
levels  that  are  based  on  how  high  your 


child  can  count.  Pepper  the  Mouse 
sleeps  in  the  lower  left  corner  until 
you  wake  him  up.  Then  he  begins  to 
play  with  you;  for  example,  he  may 
display  three  ducks  and  ask,  "How 
many?"  If  your  child  selects  the  cor- 
rect number  from  the  spinner,  the 
ducks  will  stand  on  their  heads  and 
make  noises. 

The  Mousehole  is  a  more  compli- 
cated counting  game  that  requires 
some  ability  to  add  and  subtract,  as 


7/ie  Playroom  is  a  child's  paradise 
chock-full  of  toys  and  activities. 

well  as  to  think  strategically.  This 
game  offers  three  skill  levels  based  on 
how  high  your  child  can  count.  I 
played  the  lowest  level  against  the 
computer  and  was  pleased  to  notice 
that  the  computer  got  consistently  aw- 
ful rolls,  allowing  me  to  win  easily. 
This  gives  young,  inexperienced  play- 
ers a  necessary  edge  while  they  learn 
to  play  the  game. 

The  Cuckoo  Clock  game  is  sup- 
posed to  teach  kids  how  to  tell  time, 
but,  unfortunately,  it  isn't  very  inter- 
esting to  play.  The  clock  displays  ana- 
log time,  digital  time,  and  the  time  in 
words;  and  it  contains  a  graphic  show- 
ing what  Pepper  the  Mouse  does  at 
that  time.  The  game  is  played  by  se- 
lecting different  limes  on  the  analog 
clock. 

The  Computer  is  a  spelling  game 
and  is  also  supposed  to  familiarize 
your  child  with  the  keyboard.  But  you 
don't  directly  use  the  keyboard  when 
playing.  It  seems  to  me  that  a  hands- 
on  approach  would  have  been  the  best 
way  to  get  comfortable  with  the  key- 
board. Instead,  you  get  a  graphic  rep- 
resentation of  a  keyboard  and  access  it 
with  a  pointer,  which  is  a  slow  and 
frustrating  process. 

The  documentation  that  accom- 
panies this  package  is  simple,  but  all 
you  really  need  to  know  is  how  to  load 
the  program.  Once  your  child  starts 
experimenting,  directions  won't  be 
necessary.  Also  noteworthy  are  the 
creative  suggestions  on  how  to  do 
more  with  the  games  away  from  your 
computer. 

Great  graphics,  effective  sounds. 


and  creative  interaction  combine  to 

make  The  Playroom  a  great  teaching 
tool  that's  also  great  fun. 

BETH  ANN  MURRAY 


Apple  II— $39.95 

IBM  PC  and  compatibles— $44.95 

Macintosh— S49.9S 

BRODERBUND 

17  Paul  Dr. 

San  Rafael,  CA  94903-2t01 

(415)492-3200 


People  who  liked  Jabba  the 
Hutt  are  going  to  love 
Mondu-the-Fat.  He's  the 
porcine  proprietor  of  the 
Fight  Palace  in  Activi- 
sion's  Tongue  of  the  Fat- 
man.  Mondu-the-Fat  is 
just  waiting  for  you  to 
step  into  the  pit  and  chal- 
lenge one  of  his  interplan- 
etary brawlers  to  a  fight  to 
the  death.  Too  bad,  as  the  death  is 
usually  yours  instead  of  theirs. 

Be  prepared  for  taunts  and  jibes 
from  the  Fatman,  and  be  warned  that 
this  calorie-cruncher's  bite  is  worse 
than  his  bark.  "Humanoids,"  he  says, 
"they  come  apart  so  easily  in  the  fight 
pits.  Especially  when  you  pull  their 
arms."  There's  no  such  thing  as  a  fair 
fight  at  Mondu's. 

Your  early  opponents  aren't  lop 
contenders,  but  they  are  nasty  enough 
to  jump  on  your  face  and  laugh  about 
it.  The  Fat  Man  waits  at  the  end.  If 
you  get  a  shot  at  him,  watch  out  for 
his  Tongue  Lash — it's  a  wicked 
weapon. 

This  game  also  has  a  wicked 
sense  of  humor  that's  reflected  in  the 
manual,  and  the  explanatory  com- 
ments by  Sworal,  the  Bingusian 
swamp  rat,  are  a  pure  delight.  Unfor- 
tunately, 1  can't  say  the  same  for  the 
game's  background  music.  You  can 
shut  off  the  fight's  sounds,  but  there's 
no  relief  from  the  game's  incessant 
chirping  tones  as  you  move  through 
the  preliminary  screens. 

Via  joystick  or  keyboard,  your 
fighter  has  1 6  different  moves — 
jumps,  flips,  punches,  and  kicks — al- 
most too  many.  I  was  mangled  and 
mauled  dozens  of  times  before  I  could 
remember  which  combination  of  keys 
produced  an  effective  punch.  Many 
players  may  grow  discouraged  and 
quit  before  they  learn  how  to  fight  and 
use  their  weapons.  But  this  is  no  game 


90 


COMPUTE 


FEBRUARY       1990 


for  wimps;  as  the  manual  says,  "Confused?  Hey,  that's 
just  a  polite  word  for  stupid." 

TOM  NETSEL 


IBM  PC  and  compatibles  with  51 2K  and  color  monitor— $39.95 

ACTIVISION 
3885  Bohannon  At/e. 
Menio  Park,  CA  94025 
(415)329-0800 


INDIANA  JON 
LAST  CRUSADE 


ES  AND  THE 


The  legend  of  the  Holy  Grail  has  been  resur- 
rected by  LucasFilm  with  the  release  of  the 
movie  Indiana  Jones  and  the  Last  Crusade. 
In  this  film,  Indiana  Jones  travels  to  Italy, 
Austria,  Germany,  and  the  Middle  East,  rac- 
ing the  Nazis  to  find  the  lost  chalice  of  the 
Last  Supper. 
In  the  computer  version  of  this  adven- 
ture, you  must  find  the  Grail  by  thinking 
and  acting  like  Indy.  In  fact,  every  time  you 
act  hke  Indy,  you  earn  I.Q.  (Indy  Quotient) 
points.  Don't  think  that  you  can  locate  the  Grail  easily 
just  because  you've  seen  the  movie;  this  game  is  sophis- 
ticated, and  there's  more  than  one  trail  to  the  Grail.  At 
times,  you  can  follow  the  same  route  that  Indy  did.  At 
other  times,  you'll  be  in  unfamiliar  places  and  have  to 
make  decisions  about  things  that  you  didn't  see  in  the 
movie. 

There  are  three  accessories  necessary  for  finding  the 
Grail.  One  is  Henry  Jones'  diary.  Henry,  Indy's  father, 
spent  most  of  his  life  hunting  for  the  Grail,  and  his  diary 
is  packed  with  clues  to  guide  you  on  your  journey.  How- 
ever, you  must  find  it  before  you  can  use  it. 

There  are  critical  moments  when  you  must  correctly 
translate  inscriptions  to  continue  the  game.  You  are  giv- 
en a  four-page  translation  table  to  help.  Also,  to  help  you 
get  the  game  started  painlessly,  you're  given  a  16-page, 
easy-to-understand  instruction  manual  that  contains  nu- 
merous hints  for  helping  you  in  your  quest. 

LucasFilm  did  a  great  job  putting  this  game  togeth- 
er. The  graphics  are  superb  even  on  a  CG.A  monitor,  and 
the  sound  is  good  even  when  coming  out  of  a  49-cent 
speaker.  You  hear  Indy's  wet  shoes  squishing,  doors 
slamming,  and  water  gushing  from  a  fountain  when  he 
stops  for  a  drink. 

One  outstanding  feature  of  this  game  is  the  inclu- 
sion of  action  elements.  For  example,  when  Indy  and  his 
father  escape  Germany  in  a  biplane,  you  actually  fly  the 
plane  much  like  you  would  in  a  flight  simulation,  and 
whenever  Indy  gets  into  a  fight  with  an  enemy,  you  con- 
trol his  punches. 

Great  attention  is  given  to  detail.  When  I  "looked" 
at  a  bulletin  board  in  a  hallway,  I  was  surprised  to  read 
such  messages  as  FOR  SALE;  6000  RATS,  500  SNAKES. 
CALL  S.  SPIELBERG.  And  I  received  a  verbal  slap  in 
the  face  when  I  typed  turn  on  too  near  a  member  of  the 
opposite  sex.  There's  also  wonderful  dialogue  between 
the  characters  and  you. 

If  you're  used  to  adventure  games  that  require  a  lot 
of  typing,  you'll  enjoy  selecting  verbs  and  nouns  with 
your  keyboard,  joystick,  or  mouse.  The  ability  to  save 
your  game  to  disk  is  also  crucial  because  you  won't  get 
through  this  game  in  one  sitting.  > 


You've  played  60l^RC>^[= 

Now  the  REAL  CHALLENGE! 


Z^'  i^^**'  j-2-1—  ^Kw*Ji  W^  ■AJit '■i-Ifrs^-^  Mte-JEA*'  hLmsKJ 


Adventure  of  the  CRYSTAL  KEEP 

Tantasy  role  playing  climbs  to  new  heights  of  challenge  and  excitement 
as  you  descend  into  the  depth.s  of  the  CITADEL.  Your  quest  is  to  free  the 
Lady  Synd,  cruelly  imprisoned  by  Ihe  evil  Wiwrd  Ncquilar.  You  must 
rely  on  your  skill  and  cunning  to  merely  SURVIVE. 

^Features: 
•  Create  your  own  heros  using  the  complete, 
heritage  oriented,  character  generation  system 
.n>  including  character  itnage  customizing. 

^^^  ij,      •  Select  from  over  200  weapons  and  items. 
^,  •  Over  60  spells/scrolls  at  your  conmiand- 
•  Most  graphically  realistic, 
three  dimensional  maze 
exploration 
■*         ever  created. 
'>    •   Hundreds 

•     of  rooms  on  , " 

,      multiple  levels.  .j 

•  A  constant  ,f' 

challenge  is  i 

provided  from  over 
■'■  60  animated  monsters 

^.  must  be  overcome. 
•  The  sound  and 


(.»'  ' 


>i 


animation 
will  take 
you  to 
the  edge 
t-  of  your 


Now  available  For 
Macintosh  Plus  or 
greater  and  Atari  ST. 

Soon  available  ior 
IBM  and  Amiga. 


1 


Contact  yitiir  DCiinrit  dt-al 


wmwwMWM.  rJircr. 


ur  inquiries  inviled. 


Citidol  is  a  nsiistt'iod  Iriidtiniark  ol  Posterall  Intun-uilKxiii)  Inc. 
All  olitot  trsiduntaiKs  or  t>f;trKJ  narrios  ato  tbo  pfot-«?rty  of  th«ir  nwpiM-.lJvo  hokkfts 


Circle  Reader  Service  Number  181 


Indiana  Jones  supports  EGA, 
VGA,  CGA,  MCGA,  and  Tandy  16- 
color  graphics.  The  game  package 
contains  a  $20  rebate  coupon  for  an 
Ad  Lib  Music  Synthesizer  Card, 


Find  the  chalice  before  the  Nazis  do  in 
Indiana  Jones  and  the  Last  Crusade. 

which  gives  you  better  sound  in  Indi- 
ana Jones  and  other  software.  Because 
of  frequent  disk  accesses  and  occa- 
sional swaps,  you'll  want  to  run  the 
game  on  a  hard  drive. 

Indiana  Jones  and  the  Last  Cru- 
sade is  the  best  of  the  quests,  and  it 
would  have  kept  even  Don  Quixote 
glued  to  his  computer  in  La  Mancha. 
Of  course,  it's  hard  to  run  an  AT  on 
windmill  power. 

DAN  WEAVER 


Amiga — S49.95 

Atari  ST— S49.95 

IBM  PC  and  compatibles— $49,95 

LUCASFILM 

Distributed  by  Electronic  Arts 

1820  Gateway  Dr. 

San  Mateo,  CA  94404 

(415)571-7171 


THE  THIRD 


From  your  West  Berlin 
apartment,  you  make 
computer  contact  with 
Mission  Control  in  Lang- 
ley  and  learn  that  two 
couriers  carrying  top-se- 
cret NATO  defense  plans 
have  been  ehminated. 
The  third  is  missing.  Ru- 
mor has  it  that  the  courier 
has  made  contact  with  the 
East  and  is  willing  to  sell  the  NATO 
plans  to  the  highest  bidder.  You, 
Moondancer,  the  free  world's  best  se- 
cret agent,  must  find  and  stop  him. 

Accolade's  The  Third  Courier  is 
one  of  the  most  clever  action/adven- 
ture games  I've  seen.  From  the  mo- 
ment you  open  the  package,  you'll  be 
caught  up  in  the  intrigue  of  espionage. 


The  creative,  well-written  documenta- 
tion— called  Mission  Overview — ac- 
companies a  map  of  East  and  West 
Berlin  and  a  decoder  slide  rule. 

After  the  easy,  menu-driven  in- 
stallation, you  select  a  cover.  You  can 
have  up  to  four  active  agents  on  file  at 
a  time.  Not  only  do  you  choose  aliases 
for  your  agents,  but  you  also  fill  in 
background  information,  such  as  a 
cover  occupation.  Agents  are  rated  on 
physical  strength,  knowledge,  intelli- 
gence, intuition,  and  health  from  this 
dossier.  Your  overall  rating  deter- 
mines the  points  that  you  receive  for 
collecting  information,  successfully 
avoiding  a  conflict,  and  fighting  in  a 
confrontation. 

The  screen  is  arranged  into  two 
sides.  The  right  half  contains  the  ac- 
tion, inventory,  and  place  menus.  Bar 
graphs  show  your  current  level  of 
strength,  intelligence,  intuition, 
knowledge,  and  health.  A  compass  in- 
dicates the  directions  you  may  move 
when  on  the  city  streets.  An  encounter 
box  allows  you  to  fight,  chat,  threaten, 
or  run. 

The  left  half  of  the  screen  dis- 
plays the  scene,  whether  it's  your 
apartment,  the  interior  of  a  seedy  bar, 
or  the  street.  Above  this  scene  is  a  dia- 
log box  that  displays  conversations  or 
indicates  whether  you've  been  hurt  in 
a  fight.  Below  the  scene  is  a  status  box 
that  indicates  your  location  and 
whether  you're  armed  or  not. 

The  graphics  are  excellent.  The 
scenes  are  clear  and  detailed  even  on  a 
CGA  monitor.  And  facial  expressions 
of  the  people  you  meet  on  the  streets 
of  Berlin  actually  change  slightly  if 
they're  displayed  for  more  than  a  few 
seconds. 

The  colors  are  vivid  as  long  as 
you  remain  in  West  Berlin,  Enter  East 
Berlin,  and  expect  to  see  nothing  but 
gray  and  black.  The  buildings  and  sur- 
roundings are  drab,  frozen  in  a  World 
War  II  time  warp.  Don't  forget  your 
papers  and  don't  cause  problems  at 
the  border  or  you'll  be  thrown  in  jail 
for  questioning.  If  this  happens,  ex- 
pect to  spend  at  least  four  hours  there. 

The  Third  Courier  definitely  ex- 
ercises the  gray  matter.  At  first  I 
wasn't  sure  just  how  to  get  the  infor- 
mation to  find  the  missing  courier, 
but  eventually  the  steps  seemed  so  ob- 
vious I  wondered  how  I  could  have 
gotten  my  first  agent  killed  so  quickly. 

Before  long,  all  of  my  active 
agents  were  able  to  think  quickly  on 
their  feel.  They  had  a  feel  for  the  city 
so  they  weren't  assassinated  while  try- 
ing to  find  their  way  with  a  map,  and 
they  had  enough  intuition  to  know 
when  to  fight  and  when  to  run. 


^^t^w^^t»ivinim^ 


Keep  tracl<  of  your  status  as  you  travel 
about  and  search  in  Ttie  Third  Courier. 

If  you  enjoy  mystery  and  in- 
trigue, if  intuitive  games  with  great 
graphics  and  challenges  appeal  to  you, 
give  The  Third  Courier  a  try.  This 
quality  thriller  is  sure  to  captivate 
audiences. 

Ll.SA  WROBLE 


IBM  PC  and  compatibles— S49.95 
AppleliGS— S49.95 

ACCOLADE 
550  S,  Winchester  Blvd. 
San  Jose,  CA  95128 
(408)  296-8400 


CE 
MANAGER  R 

Far  too  of^en,  users  be- 
come jaded  about  com- 
puter software  that 
promises  to  solve  all  their 
problems,  particularly  if 
they've  been  stung  by 
packages  that  have  failed 
to  work.  Finance  Manag- 
er II  has  restored  my  faith 
in  software  claims — it's  a 
smoothly  competent  fi- 
nancial-management program  in  a 
well-designed  package.  Designed  for 
those  with  little  bookkeeping  expe- 
rience. Finance  Manager  easily  man- 
ages financial  resources.  You  may 
purchase  different  modules  such  as 
General  Ledger,  Accounts  Receivable, 
Accounts  Payable,  Payroll,  and  Finan- 
cial Utilities  and  use  them  indepen- 
dently or  together  in  any  combina- 
tion. If  you  want  to  start  with  General 
Ledger,  the  heart  of  the  program,  you 
can  add  the  other  modules  later  with 
no  hassle. 

The  installation  process  is  easy. 
Accurately  detailed  instructions  ap- 
pear on  the  screen  and  in  the  manual. 
You  can  maneuver  using  a  mouse  or 
the  keyboard,  and  all  the  modules  are 
menu-driven. 

General  Ledger  is  easy  to  use,  but 


92       COMPUTE! 


FEBRUARY       1990 


cnnruj^t 


Slick  up  your 
joystick  it's  hot! 


YOU  C0HTFW3U  THE  OREiTEST  HIOH-TECH  TANKS  IN  THE  WORLD.  yOU  *RE  ON  »  PHKOH  PLANET  TRYING  TO 
ARREST  SOME  ESCAPED  CONVICTS.   PHOOHAH  AND  LEAD  YOUR  TEAM  OF  TANKS  TO  TRICK  YOUR  OPPONENT!  RAY 
TRACED  30  UNIVERSE.  UULTITASKIHO,  ONE  OB  TWO  PLAYERS  ARE  THE  FEATURES  OFTHISOAME. 


KNIGH 


YOU  ARE  THE  SWORD  HASTEH, 
OF  hack:  GRAPHICS.  LEAD 
UBEDATE  THE  PRINCESS 


OiFtMOiB  Of  BELLOTH  REALM.   QUEST TKROUOM  BFTEEN  LEVELS  AND  nVE  ERAS 
YOUn  ENCHANTED  POWEBFULWEAPONSAKDSPOILTHE  MALIVOLEKT  TRAPS,  TO 
TANYA  FROM  THE  C1>WS  OF  RED  5ABAT  THE  SOflCSRER. 


ILD  STREETS 


A  SUPEBCOP  AND  A  BLACK  PAMTHEH  TEAM  TOGETHER  IN  A  HKJK  H  SK  MISSION.  "A  TOP  CIA  AOENT  HAS  BEEN 
KIDNAPPED,  FINDHIMI  YOU  KNOW  THAT  ACTKIN  AND  FMMTINO  IS  INEVITABLr',   YOU'LL  HAVE  TO  VISIT  THE  CITY 
SLUMS  TO  FIND  HIM  AND  PROTECT  YOU  BOTH  FROM  MOBSTERS,  PUNKS  AND  OTHER  RIFF  RAFFS. 

F40  PURSUIT 


AT  THE  WHEEL  OF  YOUR  FABULOUS  FERRARI  F40,  YOU'RE  HACINO  AQAINST  TIMEATSOOMILESPERHOUH.   PLAN 
YOUR  ROUTE,  BUT  BEWARE  OF  POLICE  THAT  WILL  THY  TO  STOP  YOU  IN  YOUR  MISSKIN.   360  DECREE  SPINS,  AND 
HEALtSTKiSOBOAD  JUNCTIONS  WILL  MAKE  YOU  SENSE  THE  THRILL  OF  SPEED.   DONlT  JUST  TAKE  OUR  WORD, 
BURN  SOME  RUBBER. 


TITUSym 


20432  CORISCO  STREET. 

CHATSWORTHCA  91311 

ai  6-709-3693 


S    H    O    B    E 

YOU  ARE  AM  OFF  »H04IE  WABBIOfl  AND 
VOUH  FIRST  ARSU,  FUU  OF  FANS,  rs 
WAITlNa  FOfl  YOU,  STRUOOLF  *0*««T 
BOCKS,  WAVES  WO  OW-ONEMTI  IN  A 
DEADLY  QMIE,  ONLY  FEW  CAM  LEAVE 
ALIVE.  DOITOflOJEIII 

CRAZY 
CARS 

YOU  ARE  RACINQ  FOUR  Of  THE 
MOST  PREBTinOUS  CARS  IN  THE 
WORLD'S  CRAZIEST  RACE 
THHOUOHOUT  TH  E  UNITEO  STATES. 
PHEPARETOSTAHT,  HEADY?   QOlil 


IRE 


FORGET 

FACE  THREE  LEVELS  OF  Sn 
C0NFUCT3,  FROM  SPORADIC 
WARFARE  TO  TOTAL  WAR. 
NEVER  LOOK  aACKI  IT  COULD 
BE  YOUR  LAST  WSaON.  ONE  OR 
TWO  WARiUOftQ  CAN  TEAM  UP. 


TiVAN 


MAKE  YOUR  WAY  THROUGH  THIS 
STRATCaC  PUHLE  OF  EKIHTY 
WOHLDS  VHTM  YOUR  MAONFRC 
CONTROL  UNIT-   UTT  QC 
CAREFULL,  THE  ULTRA^^ASf 
SCROLUNQ  HAS  ALn£AOY  CAU3£D 
SOME  MENTAL  DAEAKDOWMS. 


«  TITUS  1S8>.   TITUS  AND  THE  TITUS  LOGO  ARE  REGISTERED  TRADEMARKS  OF  TITUS  SOFTWARE  CORP. 
Circle  Readef  Service  Number  1€1 


i'ir. 


you  must  understand  double-entry 
bookkeeping.  You  have  to  know 
which  account  to  debit  or  credit,  the 
difference  between  expenses  and  in- 
come, and  the  differences  among  as- 
sets, liabilities,  and  equity.  The  sample 
demos  show  you  how  to  set  up  your 
accounts  and  perform  transactions. 

General  Ledger  tracks  assets,  li- 
abilities, net  worth,  income,  and  ex- 
penses. The  program  records  financial 
transactions  and  categorizes  them  into 
the  various  accounts  that  you  set  up. 
It  generates  nine  financial  reports  in- 
cluding a  balance  sheet,  an  income 
statement,  a  statement  of  sources,  and 
uses  of  funds.  A  long  list  of  features 
includes  storage  of  up  to  1 999  ac- 
counts, three  subtotal  levels,  entry  of 
up  to  32,000  transactions  per  year, 
and  sorting  by  date  or  input.  In  addi- 
tion, all  closing  entries  are  performed 
automatically  and  fiscal-year  dates 
can  be  varied. 

The  Accounts  Receivable  module 
tracks  the  receivables  of  up  to  2000 
customers.  It  generates  eight  reports, 
including  invoices  and  a  Receivables 
Aging  report.  The  reports  are  sent  to 
the  screen,  the  printer,  or  a  disk  file.  It 
also  prints  six-line  mailing  labels. 

Entering  customer  transactions 
moves  quickly.  Each  of  the  12  cus- 


tomer-account data  fields  defaults  to 
the  last  data  entered  in  that  field.  This 
saves  keystrokes  when  you're  entering 
repetitive  data.  Versatility  is  limited 
because  fields  can't  be  altered  to  fit 
your  individual  needs.  This  module 


FIIMHCE  mHflCEII    II   MHSTEIt  MENU 


ESC     EAd/Keflt«rl  Prosran 
Fl        SustSfl  Utilities   HBm 


CEHEKflL  LEDCEII 


T3      nccDunts  Ptuitls 
Ti       flccDunts   RecelvablB 
rS        Fayro I L 

rr       Fiiwnclil   Uillitlas 

F3        PRODUCT   IHFOKHnTIOM 

EHTER  VOUR  SEUCTIOH^ 


Finance  Manager  ll's  friendly  menus 
guide  you  through  all  of  the  functions. 

keeps  detailed  information  on  each 
customer  without  cluttering  up  the 
general  ledger  including  customer 
names,  addresses,  credit  limits,  due 
days,  and  interest  rates. 

Press  F3  and  all  Accounts  Re- 
ceivable transactions  will  be  posted  to 
the  General  Ledger  module.  I  was 
pleased  to  discover  the  posting  proce- 
dure is  smart;  it  only  adds  transac- 
tions not  already  posted,  so  you  can 
never  double-post. 


The  Accounts  Payable  module 
interacts  with  General  Ledger  similar- 
ly to  Accounts  Receivable.  It  prints 
seven  reports,  vendor  mailing  labels, 
and  checks.  Each  vendor  account  con- 
sists of  1 1  fields,  which  include  name, 
address,  discount  percent,  discount 
days,  and  net  due  days. 

I  found  the  Payroll  module  to 
work  as  efficiently  as  the  other  mod- 
ules and  to  work  the  same  way.  Re- 
member, these  five  modules  are 
intended  to  be  a  team.  Payroll  keeps 
information  such  as  hire  dates,  earn- 
ings, deductions,  vacations,  sick  leave, 
overtime,  holidays,  extra  income,  and 
deductions  on  up  to  1000  employees. 

Payroll  also  automatically  calcu- 
lates employee  deductions  and  em- 
ployer liabilities,  and  it  prints  payroll 
checks  and  W-2  forms.  It  can  be  fully 
integrated  with  the  General  Ledger 
module.  Payroll  creates  ten  reports, 
including  a  Quarteriy  Tax  Summary. 

I  learned  to  use  the  Financial 
Utilities  module  with  minimal  effort 
and  time.  One  of  the  numerous  func- 
tions in  this  module  is  loan  analysis. 
It  computes  payments,  original  loan 
amounts,  interest  rates,  terms,  and 
amortization  schedules. 

All  five  manuals  are  well  written; 
their  organization  flows  logically. 


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COMPUTE 


FEBRUARY       1990 


Circle  Reader  Service  Number  191 


The  World's  BEST  101  Programs 

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BUSINESS/ 
ACCOUNTING/FINANCE 


D  Finance  Manager  II  (1601)  Complete 
double-entry  bookkeeping. 

□  Form  Letters  (1607)  100  business  and 
legal  forms  (contracts,  employment 
applications,  Jilings,  etc.). 

DBIakbook  (1603)  Great  for  keeping 
track  of  addresses  and  ptione  num- 
bers. Prints  an  address  book. 

DStock  Charting  (1612)  A  complete 
portfolio  system  to  track,  analyze,  and 
chart  your  stocks. 

DSmall  Business  Accounting  (1617)  A 
must  for  all  small  business  ownersi 

DSolve-ll!  (1616)  Does  over  20  vital 
financial  calculations  including  amor- 
tization, PV,  FV,  and  IRR. 

n  PC-Books  (1 621 )  A  complete,  easy  to 
use  bookkeeping  system. 

D  PC-Loans  (1628)  This  package  sup- 
ports all  common  loan  methods. 

DEasy  Project  (1629)  A  powerful 
project  manager  software  package. 

D  FbrmGen  (1630)  Design  and  print  any 
office  form,  easily! 


DATABASE/MAIL  LIST 


[UFIIe  Express  (1700,1701)  A  powerful, 
easy  to  use  database  (2  disks). 

[U  Doctor  Data  Labels  (1703,1704)  Com- 
plete and  powerful!  A  professional 
mail  list  manager  (2  disks}  HD 

II]PC-Rle:dB  (1705-1707)  The  most 
powerful  dBASE  compatible  program 
available!  (3  disks)  HL;  512K 

O Label  Master  (1715)  A  great  mail  list 
manager  and  label  printing  utility. 


SPREADSHEETS 


[l]PC-Calc+  (1800-1802)  The  most 
powerful  spreadsheet  package. 
(3  disks)  „:;'■: 

DQubeCalc  (1806)  Take  your  spread- 
sheets 3-D!  Highly  recommended. 

□  Lotus  Macros  (1807)  A  large  collec- 
tion of  Lotus  macros  and  templates. 

dl Lotus  Learning  System  (1810,1811) 
-filaster  Lotus  1-2-3!  (2  disks) 


WORD  PROCESSING 


SPC-Wrlte  3.03  (1651-1853)  The  BEST 
word  processor  for  under  $200!  Has 
spel!  checking  and  hundreds  of  other 
features  (3  disks)  ■  :.  i-. 

□  PC-Stylist  (1855)  Analyzes  and  helps 
you  to  improve  your  writing  skills, 

□  PC-Outline  (1860)  An  excellent  idea 
organizer  and  free  form  database. 

□  WP  5.0  Uarning  Sys.  (1863.1864) 
Helps  you  learn  and  master  Word 
Perfect  5.0.  (If  you  have  WP  4.2,  select 
disks  #1861  &  #1862.)  (2  disks) 

HVVP  S.O  Macros  (1857)  Several 
macros  for  Word  Perfect  5.0.  (If  you 
have  WP  4.2,  select  disk  #1856.) 

II]PC-Type+  (1870-1872)  Complete 
word  processor  with  100,000  word 
dictionary  and  mail  merge.  (3  disks) 


BIBLE/RELIGION 


DBlble-Q  (1551)  Test  your  Biblical  IQI 
n  BIBLE  Men  (1570)  A  tun  quiz  on  the 

people  in  the  BIBLE. 
USeedMaster  (1555-1567)  The  com- 
plete  King   James  version   of  the 
BIBLE  on  disk!  (13  disks)  HD. 


HOME  BUDGETS/ 
FAMILY  APPLICATIONS 


GRAPHICS/PRINTING 


GAMES  coNT 


[E  Fast  Bucks  (11 00, 11 01)  Keeps  track  of 
all  youf  personal  finances  and  prints 
great  financial  reports  (2  disks). 

n  Home  Budget  Manager  (1103)  Tracks 
all  your  household  expenses  and 
helps  you  to  set  budgets  and  goals. 

□  Express  Check  (1104)  Excellent 
checkbook  program  with  reconcilia- 
tion and  great  screen  displays.  512K 

□  Home  Inventory  (1105)  Keeps  track  of 
all  your  personal  property 

□  MealMate  (1115)  Helps  you  to  plan 
nutritionally  balanced  meals, 

[3  Edna's  Cookbook  (1113,1119)  An  easy 
to  use  computerized  cookbook. 
Comes  with  several  great  recipes - 
add  your  own  favorites.  (2  disks) 

H]  Brother's  Keeper  (1120,1121)  A  great 
genealogy  program  that  allows  you  to 
trace  your  family  history  (2  disks). 


EDUCATION 


[H  French  I  &  II  (1200.1201)  Learn  and 
practice  French  vocabulafy  (2  disks). 

SSpanish  I  &  II  (1205.1206)  Test  and 
train  with  these  excellent  Spanish 
vocabulary  drills  {2  disks). 

□  Geography  (1215)  Learning  is  fun 
with  this  great  geography  trivia  game. 

□  PC-Gradebook  (1217)  Record  and 
monitor  your  students'  grades. 

□  world  (1221)  A  computer  encyclope- 
dia of  global  information.  CGA 

□  Typing  Tutor  (1224)  Helps  you 
improve  your  speed  and  skill.  CGA 

□  PC-Professor  (1229)  This  program 
teaches  BASIC  programming. 

□  Balloon  Speller  (1230)  An  introduc- 
tion to  spelling  for  children.  CGA 

□  Math  lessons  (1233)  A  great  pro- 
gram that  teaches  algebra.  CG"- 

□  Facts  50  (1234)  A  graphic  geography 
lesson  of  the  U.S.   .'-:a 

□  Computer  Tutor  (1235)  Become  a 
more  effective  computer  user 

□  Play  'n'  Learn  (1236)  A  set  of  6  learn- 
ing games  for  preschoolers.  CGA 


UTILITIES 


□  MasterKeys  (1400)  Like  Norton  Utili- 
ties (recover  deleted  files,  disk  edit- 
ing, change  file  attributes,  etc.). 

□  SlmCGA  (1404)  Allows  monochrome 
PCs  to  run  many  CGA  programs. 

□  PC-DeskTeam  (1406)  Several  useful 
desktop  accessories  (clock,  calendar, 
calculator,  notepad,  etc.). 

□  Automenu  (1409)  A  very  professional 
hard  disk  menu  system.  Run  any  of 
your  programs  from  a  custom  menu. 

□  SIdeWrlter  (1410)  Prints  your  spread- 
sheet print  files  sideways. 

□  Baker's  Dozen  (1411)  A  set  of  13 
utilities  that  everyone  needsl 

□  Space  Maker  (1412)  This  utility  allows 
you  to  lit  more  data  on  any  disk. 

□  alt  (1413)  It's  like  Norton  Utilities,  the 
Sidekick  desktop  accessories,  and  a 
menu  program  all  In  onel 

□  still  River  Shell  (1414)  A  superb  file 
and  directory  management  utility. 

□  HD  Backup  (1415)  Allows  you  lo 
backup/restore  all  the  data  on  your 
hard  drive  with  floppy  disks.  HD 

□  NewKey  (1416)  Save  time  and 
increase  efficiency  by  using  this  (the 
BEST)  keyboard  macro  program 


□  Express  Graph  (1106)  Turns  raw  data 
into  great  business  graphics. 

□  DlskOver  (1320)  Prints  informative 
disk  sleeves  lor  all  your  disks. 

□  Banner  Maker  (1502)  Prints  banners 
in  various  sizes,  styles,  and  fonts. 

□  PrIntShop  Graphics  (1503)  A  large, 
collection  of  Printshop  clip  art. 

□  EDraw  (1508)  Design  tool  for  creating 
flow  charts  and  schematics.  CGA 

□  PC-Art  (1509)  A  color  graphics  paint- 
ing/drawing package.  CGA. 

[S  Epson  Utilities  (1514,1515)  Enhance 
the  print  quality  of  your  Epson- 
compatible  printer  (2  disks) 

S  PC-Key  Draw  (1520-1523)  Powerful 
CAD  design  system.  Works  with 
mouse  or  keyboard.  (4  disks)  CGA 

□  City  Desk  (1525)  Simple  desktop  pub- 
lishing for  newsletters. 


MISC.  APPLICATIONS 


□  weight  Control  (1302)  Let  this  pro- 
gram help  you  get  fit, 

□  Personal  Biorhythm  (1310)  Will  dis- 
play or  print  a  personal  chart 

SKwikStat  (1314,1315)  A  professional 
statistics  package.  (2  disks) 

S  Wisdom  of  the  Ages  (1316-1319) 
Great  quotes  from  the  greatest  minds 
of  history.  Quick  access  to  6000  quo- 
tations in  several  categories.  (4  disks). 

□  Make  My  Day  (1 627)  Puts  you  i  n  con- 
trol by  organizing  your  time!  Keeps 
track  of  appointments  and  deadlines. 

□  Piano  Man  (1901)  Compose  and  edit 
music  or  play  the  keyboard. 


GAMES 


□  AdventureWare  (1934)  Five  excellent 
adventure  games. 

□  Armchair  Quarterback  (1905)  A  fun 
football  strategy  game. 

□  Baseball  (1916)  Great  arcade  action 
and  baseball  strategy.  CGA- 

□  Trivial  by  PAS  (1953)  Test  your  knowl- 
edge in  several  categories. 

□  Checkers  (1954)  See  if  you  are  good 
enough  to  beat  the  computer,  CGA 

□  Crime  Lab  (1955)  Play  this  exciting 
graphic  murder  mystery  game.  CGA 

□  Flightmare  (1923)  Futuristic  fighter 
pilot  arcade  game.  CGA. 

□  Fbrd  Simulator  (1956)  A  great  driving 
simulation  game  from  Ford,  CGA, 

□  Hopper  (1902)  Frogger  clone.  CGA. 

□  Kid  Games  (1938)  These  games  are 
both  fun  and  educational.  CGA 

□  Kingdom  of  Kroz  (1952)  An  excellent, 
award-winning  adventure  game. 

□  Las  Vegas  Style  Craps  (1914)  Play 
and  improve  your  skill.  CGA. 

□  PAC-Man  &  More!  (1930)  PAC-Man 
and  Ms.  PAC-Man  clones.  CGA. 

□  PC-Gammon  (1907)  Play  a  tough 
computer  opponent,  anytime.  CGA 

□  PC-Pro  Golf  II  (1975)  Choose  your 
club  and  swing  away  at  one  of  the 
world's  most  beautiful  country  clubs 
(Amherst).  Excellent  graphics!  CGA 

□  Pearl  Harbor  (1959)  Save  your  fleet 
from  the  invading  planes.  CGA 

□  Risk  (1946)  Play  (he  famous  board 
game  on  your  computer  CGA. 

□  Scrabble  (1957)  Test  your  word  power 
with  this  always  fun  game.  CGA. 

□  l8-Hole  Miniature  Golf  (1915)  Kids 
really  love  this  onel  CGA. 


□  Sleuth  (1903)  Play  detective  in  this 
"Who  done  it?"  adventure. 

□  Solitaire  (1940)  The  computer  makes 
sure  you  don't  cheat!  CCA 

□  space  War  (1958)  Battle  it  out  in  outer 
space— ship  vs  ship.  CGA 

□  Sports  Games  (1927)  Bowling,  arch- 
ery, and  pool.  CGA 

□  star  Trek  (1948)  Two  versions  lor  all 
you  TREKies  out  there. 

□  Strategic  Games  (1926)  Fight  on  land 
and  sea  in  this  war  simulation. 

□  striker  (1904)  Helicopter  attack  and 
rescue  arcade  game.  CGA. 

□  PInball  (1941)  Great  sound  and  fast 
play  on  S  different  "machines."  CGA. 

□  video  Poker/Ulllma  21  (1945)  The 
BEST  poker  and  blackjack  games!. 

□  Wheel  o1  Misfortune  (1935)  Like  TVs 
Wheel  of  Fortune  game. 


IMPORTANT 

CGA=Requlres  Color  Computer 
HD=Requlres  Hard  Drive 
5t2K=Requires  512K  RAM 

For  multi-disk  sets, 
count  alt  disks  in  set. 


*  With  your  order  of  5  or  more 
disks,  select  an  additional  3  disks 
FREE  (limit  3  free  disks  per 
order). 


Name 

Add  ress 

City 

State Zip 

Phone  ( ) I 

Visa/MC  #  -  -  • 

Exp.  Date  / 

Signature 

Disks  Ordered 

XS2.49  or  S1.99  ea S 

G  Need  3 'A"  disks? 

Add  SI  per  ea. 

(include  free  disks) S 

Shipping S     3-00 

Foreign  add  S2 S 

n  COD  {U.S.  only) 

add  $4  il  you  require  CODS 

D  UPS  2nd  Day  or 

Priority  (U.S,  only) 

addS2 S 

TOTAL  S 

n  ChBck/MO        U  Visa/MC        O  CO.D. 


Circle  Reader  Service  Numlwr  131 


Most  important,  no  questions  are  cre- 
ated and  then  left  unanswered.  To 
help  the  bookkeeping  novice,  the 
General  Ledger  manual  has  a  six-page 
lesson  with  examples  on  double-entry 
bookkeeping.  Samples  of  all  reports 
are  included  at  the  end  of  each  man- 
ual. The  only  drawback  is  that  the 
print  in  the  report  samples  is  ver\'  small 
and  I  have  to  squint  to  read  the  text. 

Finance  Manager  II  is  a  well- 
defined  program  that  reflects  a  thor- 
ough commitment  to  a  solid  product. 

CLEND.\.McCLURE 


IBM  PC  and  compatibles— $1 86.00 
General  Ledger— S49.95 
Accounts  Receivable— $36.95 
Accounts  Payable— $36.95 
Payroll— S41. 95 
Rnancial  Utilities — S25.9S 
Account  Reconciliation— S14.95 


HOOPER  INTERNATIONAL 
P.O.  Box  62219 
Colorado  Springs,  CO  80962 
(719)528-8989 


REVENGE  OF 

Just  when  you  thought  it 
was  safe  to  get  back  in 
your  space  pod,  your  evil 
galactic  nemesis  appears 
on  the  outer  limits  of  the 
galaxy,  primed  to  dust  the 
inlergallactic  void  with 
your  neurons.  It's  DoH. 
that  great  space  face  you 
love  to  hate,  and  this  time 
it's  personal. 
Arkanoid  I!  borrows  heavily 
from  its  predecessor,  enhancing  its  fa- 
miliar block-breaking  strategies  with 
no  less  than  13  types  of  Energy  Blocks 
that  surrender  their  special  powers  to 
you  once  you  hit  them  with  an  energy 
ball. 

The  action  in  this  version  is 
thicker  and  heavier  than  in  the  first, 
but  it's  sometimes  overshadowed  by 
the  less  attractive  graphics.  Your 
space  pod  isn't  nearly  as  well  defined, 
for  example,  and  some  of  the  back- 
grounds are  so  garish  that  it's  hard  to 
pick  up  a  passing  energy  ball  before  it 
gets  by  you.  If  that  happens,  you're 
space  vapor. 

Fortunately,  you  can  overcome  a 
problematic  background  with  the  pro- 
gram's Construction  Set,  which  allows 
you  to  build  your  own  space  walls.  Se- 
lect a  more  stable  background,  or  de- 
sign your  own  Arkanoid  levels,  com- 
plete with  reappearing,  moving, 
indestructible,  or  energizing  blocks  of 
different  hues. 


With  its  67  rounds  of  rousing  ar- 
cade action,  construction  kit,  and  sup- 
port of  several  PC  sound  devices, 
Arkanoid  II  is  a  worthy  successor  to 
one  of  the  most  addictive  arcade 
games  ever  released. 

PETER  SClSrO 


Amiga  verston  available  through  Discov- 
ery Software  (301 )  268-9877 
ApplellQS— Si34.95 
Atari  ST— $29.95 
Commodore  64/128— S29.95 
IBM  PC  and  compatibles— S34.95 

TArrO  SOFTWARE 
267  W.  Esplanade 
Nortti  Vancouver,  B.C. 
Canada  V7M1A5 
(604)  984-3344 

ONCE  OPON  A 
TIME . » Jl 

Sharing  stories  with  friends 
makes  writing  a  popular 
activity.  Now  with  Once 
Upon  a  Time  ...Il.a 
one-stop  publishing  cen- 
ter, students  can  write 
stories,  draw  illustrations, 
and  print  "published" 
books.  The  package  in- 
cludes a  simple  text  pro- 
cessor. Young  writers 
enter  as  many  as  four  lines  for  every 
picture  screen,  backspacing  to  make 
corrections.  They  save  stor>'  pages  to 
disk  and  call  up  saved  files  to  make 
further  revisions.  Since  kids  produce 
neatly  written  copy  with  every  print- 
out, there's  no  need  to  worry  about 
messy  handwriting. 

Once  Upon  a  Time . . .  //  also  has 
graphics  capabilities.  While  these 
tools  are  limited  when  compared  to 
full-powered  desktop  publishers, 
they're  adequate  for  the  writing  as- 
signments of  young  children.  The  pro- 
gram includes  underwater,  forest,  and 
dinosaur  picture  sets;  each  with  a  li- 
bran-  of  different  graphics  images.  For 
example,  the  underwater  library  offers 
24  pictures,  including  a  clump  of  sea- 
weed, a  shark,  a  manta,  a  puffer,  a 
clam,  and  a  dolphin.  Kids  use  these 
pictures  to  illustrate  their  stories.  A\- 
though  they  can't  use  graphics  from 
more  than  one  picture  set  at  once, 
there's  an  adequate  selection  within 
each  graphics  library. 

Children  may  publish  single-page 
pictures  or  multiple-page  stor\'books. 
Title  pages  can  be  up  to  30  characters 
in  length  and  there's  even  room  to  en- 
ter the  author's  name.  Eight  nontoxic 
colored  pencils  come  in  the  box  and 
can  brighten  up  all  of  your  black-and- 


white  printouts. 

Students  begin  by  picking  a 
theme  and  then  must  decide  whether 
to  work  on  a  picture  or  a  book.  When 
they  choose  the  picture  option,  they 
start  with  a  blank  screen.  Four  sample 
pages  come  with  each  picture  set  and 
can  be  loaded  to  get  the  story  started. 
Graphics  on  the  sample  pages  may  be 
modified,  deleted,  or  repositioned. 
Sample  text  may  be  erased  to  leave 
room  for  a  new  script. 

The  book  option  enables  budding 
writers  to  publish  stories  by  linking 
individual  picture  pages.  They  deter- 
mine the  page  arrangement  by  select- 
ing insert  or  delete  from  the  option 
menu.  They  won't  be  able  to  edit  story 
pages  from  the  story  mode.  There's  a 
view  option  so  that  children  can  read 
their  books  before  printing. 

Navigating  from  section  to  sec- 
tion is  very  simple  using  the  space  bar 
and  the  enter  key.  As  an  added  educa- 
tional twist,  children  can't  select  a 


You  can  view  your  finished  story  in  full 
color  with  Once  Upon  a  Time ...//. 

graphic  by  simply  running  the  cursor 
through  a  picture  list;  they  must  type 
its  name.  They  can,  however,  scroll 
through  an  alphabetized  list  to  see 
what's  available. 

Once  Upon  a  Time . . .  IJ  doesn't 
offer  a  choice  of  fonts,  type  styles,  or 
type  sizes.  It  supports  a  variety  of 
printers. 

This  well-designed  program  is 
sure  to  complement  any  language  arts 
curriculum  or  greatly  encourage  writ- 
ing at  home.  Its  audience  is  children 
in  grades  2-4,  as  older  students  might 
find  the  picture  themes  a  bit  limiting. 
But  younger  children  will  enjoy  com- 
bining text  with  graphics  as  they  write 
their  very  own  published  stories. 

CAROLS.  KOLZBERti 


Apple  II— S49.95 
Apple  IIgs— S59.95 
IBM  PC  and  compatibles- 
Macintosh— $49.95 

COMPU-TEACH 
78  Olive  St. 
New  Haven,  CT  06511 
(800)  448-3224 
(203)  777-7738 


-$49.95 


96 


COMPUTE! 


FEBRUARY       1990 


ATIONS 


INSM  PRESEN 
AND  INSTANT  FORMS 

Scramble!  You're  expected  to  make  a  presen- 
tation in  one  hour  at  an  unexpected  meet- 
ing. Sound  familiar?  The  next  time  this 
happens,  you  might  be  grateful  if  your  com- 
puter hbrary  includes  a  copy  oHnstant  Pre- 
sentations,  one  of  two  new  programs  from 
Qumatic  Instant  Business  Software. 
Instant  Presentations  produces  charts 
for  overhead  projection  or  handout  pur- 
poses. It  works  quickly  and  easily,  with  no 
worry  about  formatting  or  layout  details. 
You  simply  choose  your  chart  from  a  menu  of  formats, 
pick  portrait  or  landscape  orientation,  type  your  mes- 
sage, and  send  the  chart  off  to  your  printer. 

The  format  options  include  a  title  page,  bullet 
charts,  outline  charts,  and  charts  with  two,  three,  or  four 
columns  for  tables  or  financial  data.  You're  limited  to  12 
double-spaced  lines  plus  a  title,  subtitle,  and  footnote  in 
each  chart.  The  clean,  strong,  sans-serif  font  resembles 
Helvetica  and  is  fixed  at  36-point  type  for  titles,  24-point 
for  subtitles,  and  I8-point  for  individual  lines  of  the 
chart.  All  formats  are  for  text;  there  aren't  any  graphics 
capabilities. 

The  restrictions  on  the  number  of  lines  and  the 
fixed  definitions  of  point  sizes  are  well  chosen.  Often 
presentation  charts  are  so  busy  or  attempt  to  crowd  so 
much  information  on  a  single  page  that  the  message  is 
lost.  Instant  Presentations  helps  you  avoid  these 
temptations. 

The  program  is  packaged  with  5 'A-  and  3 '/2-inch 
disks,  but  you  must  have  a  hard  disk  to  run  the  program. 
Installation  is  quick  and  easy;  the  program  takes  up 
about  500K  of  disk  space.  The  printer  option  in  the  in- 
stallation procedure  provides  for  many  types  including 
Epson  and  Okidata  dot-matrix  and  Hewlett-Packard  and 
compatible  laser  printers.  The  printed  documentation 
only  covers  installation.  After  installing  the  program,  you 
can  print  the  well-written  documentation  file.  The  com- 
pany provides  a  telephone  number  for  technical  support. 

I  decided  to  make  a  bullet  chart,  a  type  commonly 
used  in  presentations.  After  choosing  to  create  a  presen- 
tation from  the  main  menu,  I  named  it,  created  and 
named  a  page,  chose  the  bullet  format  with  portrait  ori- 
entation, and  chose  to  give  the  chart  a  border.  With  it  on 
the  screen,  I  typed  a  title  and  subtitle  and  the  lines  of  my 
chart.  From  the  main  menu,  the  options  to  view  and 
change  the  text  and  to  reorder  the  lines  let  me  make 
some  changes  to  the  chart.  The  online  help  for  all  these 
options  removes  any  need  to  refer  to  the  manual.  Select- 
ing the  print  option,  I  received  a  most  presentable  chart. 
The  whole  process  was  quick  and  easy. 

Instant  Presentations  isn't  fancy,  but  as  we  all  know, 
sometimes  there  isn't  enough  time  to  be  fancy.  And  its 
price  isn't  fancy  either. 

If  you've  ever  needed  to  create  a  business  form  on 
the  fly,  you  may  want  to  take  a  look  at  Instant  Forms. 
This  program  offers  a  library  of  standard  business  forms 
including  credit  and  debit  memos,  fax  messages,  in- 
voices, job  estimates,  packing  lists,  proposals,  purchase 
orders,  quotations,  requests  for  quotation,  sales  orders, 
statements,  and  letterheads.  Your  company  name  and 
address  can  be  placed  at  the  top  of  each  form. 

The  program  has  5%-  and  S'/i-inch  floppies  for  hard 


WATCH  OUT 
FOR  FALLING  BLOCKS 

Be  Careful!  You  will 
be  buried  alive  by  the 
addictive  3-D  challenge 
ofBLOCKOUT™ 

As  the  3-D  blocks 
appear,  flip,  rotate  and 
maneuver  them  into 
position  as  they  fall  into  the  playing  pit.  Fit  them 
together  to  complete  layers,  and  you'll  steadily 
clear  your  way  out.  But,  make  one  false  move,  and 
you'll  be  buried  in  blocks. 

Plus,  with  more  and  more  complex  sets  of 
blocks,  faster  and  faster  action  and  hundreds  and 
hundreds  of  pits,  there's  a  version  of  BLOCKOUT 
for  every  player. 
Contact  your  local  dealer  for  details. 

Available  for  IBM  PC®, TANDY®,  AMIGA'".and 
MACINTOSH^"  computers. 

BLOCKOUT  IS  a  trademark  ol  Kadon  Enterprises.  Inc., 
and  IS  used  by  permission.  California  Dreams.  7B0 
Montague  Expressway,  8403,  San  Jose,  CA  95131 
|406j  435-1445  ©1989  Logical  Design  Works,  Inc., 


Circle  Reader  Service  Number  128 


drive  installation.  The  documentation 
is  clear,  and  the  process  is  quick  and 
easy.  After  installation,  you  can  print 
a  nine-page  manual  and  a  collection 
of  sample  forms.  The  well-written 
manual  may  not  be  needed  because 
the  program's  online  help  is  so  good, 
Qume  offers  telephone  technical  sup- 
port for  the  program. 

The  forms  print  in  a  bold,  clean, 
Helvetica-like,  sans-serif  font,  in  well- 
chosen  sizes  ranging  from  8  to  18 
points.  Your  company  name  is  print- 
ed in  that  font,  but  your  entries  on  the 
forms  are  printed  in  a  crisp  12-point 
Courier  font. 

To  create  an  invoice,  I  entered 
the  company  name  and  address,  se- 
lected the  invoice  option,  and  edited 
the  various  fields  to  fit  my  needs.  The 
program  has  no  mathematical  capa- 
bility, so  you  must  enter  totals  your- 
self The  printed  form  is  clean  and 
uncluttered,  with  a  strong,  business- 
like appearance. 

To  my  mind,  Qume  need  not 
have  bothered  with  the  letterhead 
form.  Your  header  prints  in  the  upper 
left  corner,  rather  than  being  centered, 
and,  in  typing  the  letter,  you  have 
none  of  the  aids  that  any  good  word 
processor  offers.  Unless  you  don't 
have  a  word  processor,  it's  unlikely 
that  you'll  use  the  letterhead  form. 

Aside  from  that,  the  program  of- 
fers an  attractive  alternative  to  main- 
taining stocks  of  preprinted  forms  for 
your  business.  It  doesn't  allow  for  fan- 
cy logos  or  icons,  but  it  quickly  and 
easily  prints  strong,  clean  forms, 

CH.ARLESIDOL 


IBM  PC  and  compatibles— S44.95  (In- 
stant Presentations):  S44.95  (Instant 
Forms) 

QUMATIC  INSTANT  BUSINESS 

SOFTWARE 

500  Yosemite  Dr. 

Milpilas.  CA  95035-9797 

(408)942-4014 


Anew  look  has  been  given 
to  documents  printed 
with  laser  printers  on  PC 
systems.  The  ability  to  see 
the  final  page  on  the 
screen  before  printing 
isn't  available  in  most  pro- 
grams. Without  a  preview, 
page  layout  can  be  time 
consuming  even  with  a 
fast  laser  printer.  Repeated 
printouts  to  examine  layout  changes 
consume  time,  paper,  and  toner. 
BLOC  Publishing  has  solved  this 


problem  with  Print  Vision,  a  memory- 
resident  page-previewing  program 
that  allows  you  to  display  a  page  on 
the  screen  as  it  would  be  printed  on  an 
HP  LaserJet  or  DeskJet  or  on  a  com- 
patible printer.  Now  you  can  sec  how 
outputs  from  spreadsheets,  database 


PrintVislon  allows  you  to  preview  pages 
on  the  screen  before  they're  printed  out. 

managers,  word  processors,  and  other 
programs  will  look  before  they  are 
sent  to  a  LaserJet.  Print  Vision  works 
with  any  program  that  produces  text- 
based  documents,  and  graphics  files 
included  in  the  document  can  also  be 
viewed  with  the  text. 

The  program  is  activated  by  the 
.Alt-Space  key  combination  or  by  a 
print  command.  Other  key  combina- 
tions can  be  chosen  if  this  one  inter- 
feres with  another  program.  You 
won't  notice  Print  Vision  until  you  try 
to  print.  Then  it  interrupts  your  appli- 
cation program  to  display  your  docu- 
ment on  the  screen. 

An  entire  page  is  displayed  at  one 
time.  You  can  move  around  the  docu- 
ment and  zoom  in  on  specific  areas  to 
check  alignment  and  layout  on  a 
smaller  scale.  The  document  can  then 
be  printed,  or  you  can  return  to  the 
application  program  for  further  edit- 
ing. Since  documents  print  to  the 
screen  much  faster  than  to  the  printer, 
repeated  printings  to  make  fine  ad- 
justments take  less  time. 

PrintVision's  previewing  power  is 
especially  useful  when  working  with 
word  processors.  Many  of  these  use 
font  cartridges  to  print  proportionally 
spaced  fonts  on  a  laser  printer,  yet  the 
screen  displays  your  text  in  Courier 
only;  the  screen  displays  bold  or  italic 
but  not  specific  font  families.  With 
Prim  Vision,  you  now  see  your  typeset 
documents  on  the  screen  with  the 
proper  line  breaks  and  font  sizes  dis- 
played. This  preview  ability  is  nor- 
mally found  only  in  desktop  publish- 
ing software,  but  Print  Vision  now 
makes  it  available  with  your  word 
processor, 

I  did  have  a  problem  when  I  used 
Print  Vision  to  display  a  two-column 
document  from  Microsoft  Word. 
Pr/nfFfs/o/i  jumped  back  and  forth 


between  its  display  and  Word.  It  even- 
tually returned  control  to  the  word 
processor,  but  it  never  did  display  the 
document. 

Another  drawback  is  the  pro- 
gram's inability  to  work  with  soft 
(downloadable)  fonts.  Soft  fonts  are 
more  popular  and  numerous  than  car- 
tridges are  because  of  their  flexibility 
and  cost.  This  can  be  a  problem  with 
the  ever-growing  array  of  soft  fonts 
and  font  generators. 

Print  Vision 's  limitations  are  only 
significant  if  you  use  a  lot  of  fonts.  For 
the  average  user,  its  capabilities  are 
adequate.  Whether  you  own  an  HP 
LaserJet  or  you  just  use  one  for  final 
printouts.  Print  Vision  is  a  useful  tool 
that  allows  you  to  get  more  power 
from  your  existing  software. 

THOMAS  J.  MORRIS 


IBM  PC  and  compatibles— $69.95 

BLOC  Publishing 
800SW37ttiA/e. 
Suite  765 
Miami,  FL  33134 
(305)  445-0903 

MANHUNTER  2: 
SAN  FRANCISCO 

Putrid  red  gases  spew  from 
Coit  Tower,  a  mysterious 
mound  slowly  swallows 
the  Transamerica  Pyra- 
mid, and  everybody  be- 
gins to  disappear.  It's  San 
Francisco  in  the  future, 
and  these  circumstances 
pose  compelling  questions. 
The  answers,  found 
in  Sierra's  Manhunter  2, 
are  simple.  Alien  orbs  have  taken 
over,  and  they're  spreading  horror, 
tyranny,  and  death.  But  the  orbs  don't 
do  it  directly.  Instead,  they  have  help- 
ers— robots  and  you.  For  you  are 
what  is  known  as  a  manhunter.  Your 
job:  to  hunt  your  own  kind.  Under  the 
direction  of  a  supervising  orb,  you 
track  down  those  who  have  offended 
the  orbs'  delicate  sensibilities. 

To  help,  you  have  a  Manhunter 
Assignment  Device  (MAD),  a  sort  of 
portable  PC  with  dedicated  manhunt- 
ing  software.  It  works  in  conjunction 
with  electronic  tracking  disks,  which 
the  thoughtful  orbs  have  implanted  in 
everybody's  neck  (including  yours). 
But  the  tracking  system  only  works 
when  the  quarry  is  above  ground. 

When  the  game  opens,  you're  in 
hot  pursuit  of  a  baddie  named  Phil, 
He's  the  nasty  killer  sort.  You're  just 
about  to  close  in  when — wham! — you 


98      COMPUTEI 


FEBRUARY       1990 


Great  Public  Domain  and  Shareware  Programs*  Best  Selections*  Latest  Updates 
Fully  Tested  -  Virus  Free  •  Free  Technical  Support  •  Fast,  Fast  Delivery 


Featuring:  MORE...MORE...MORE PROGRAMS  per  DISK 


PRIN11KO 


AMAZING  LABELS  (1M7}  NEW!  Create 
exciting  graphic  address  labels. 

FORM  DESIGNER  (112)  Easy,  powerful 
program  creates  cuslom  forms. 

LEnERHEADS  PLUS  (132)  Designfprinl 
custom  leiterheads.  envelopes,  labels 
to  Epson/lBf/  compatible  printers. 

ON-SIDE  (121)  New!  Prtnt  sideways  with 
cuslom  lonls.  Menu-driven, 

CITYDESK  (123)  Desktop  publistiing  lor  2 
column  newslQtIors. 

MR.  LABEL  (124)  Most  versdtHe  &  powerful 
Istjel  printing  program. 

ADDRESS-O-MATIC  (127)  Grabs  names  and 
addresses  Irom  letters  and  automatical- 
ly phnts  envelopes. 

lMAGEPRINT(12S)RemarKable  letter  quali- 
ty pfinttng  on  a  9  pin  dot  matrix  printer. 

BANNER  MAKER  (130)  Create  signs  and 
banners  with  mui'it;!*,-  lonls  &  styles. 


WORDS*WOR0S  (200)  NEW!  Word  puzzle 

game  uses  S,0OQ  words.  Challenqing! 
BATTLE    GROUND    (286)    NEW!    Terrific 
strategic  war  game.  Great  graptiJcs.  CGA 
FORD  SIMUU^TOR  II  (280,  281)  (2  disks) 

NEW!  Exciting  new  driving  simulatot 

from  Ford  Motor  Co.  Lots  of  options. 
FACING  THE  EMPIRE  (290)  NEW1   Great 

intergalactic  adventure  game. 
RETURN   TO  KROZ  (291)  Unique  arcade- 

adventure    game.    Sequel    to    prize- 
winning  Kingdom  of  Kroz. 
PINBALL  ARKZSa  NEWl  Fast-paced  f^lgti- 

qualtty  pinball  games.  Requires  CGA. 
CRIME   LAB  (279)  Great,  unique  graphic 

murder  mystery  game.  CGA  or  EGA. 
CAPTAIN  COMIC  (250)  Commercial  quality 

Ei/cade  game.  Excellent!  EGA  or  VGA. 
ORACULA  IN  LONDON  {271^  Super  graphics 

adventure  game.  Great  fun,  CGA  or  EGA. 
NINJA  (201)   Commercial   quality   karaie 

arcade  game.  Neat  graphics.  CGA,  EGA. 
3.D  CHESS  (205)  Superb  3-D  game.  Loaded 

with  options.  Use  w/any  graphics  card. 
PC-RAILROAD  1210)  Trains  run  on  ready- 
made  routes  or  design  your  own,  You 

have  total  control.  CGA  required. 
CARD  GAMES  (214)  Draw  Poker,  Hearts. 

Canasta  and  Bridge. 
ARCADE  GAMES  #5  (220}  Rockets.  Snake. 

Xonix,  Nemon,  Spacewar.  Needs  CGA. 
FAVORITE    GAMES    (221)    Pango.    Oberl. 

Froggs''-  Packman,  S-Demon.  CGA, 
GAMBUNG  GAMES  (229)  Blackjack.  Poker. 

Roulette,  Craps.  CGA  required. 
BOARD  GAMES  HI   (230)  Monopoty  and 

Risk.  Requires  CGA. 
EGA  ARCADE  QAM  ES  *f1  (351*  Ajdo. 

EgaBieakout,  EgaroidS.  Needs  EGA, 
EGA  ARCADE  GAMES  tt2  (252)  Snaffs  and 

Ega-Star  Trek.  Requires  EGA. 
BOARD  GAMES  #3  (24S)  Scrabble,  Concen- 
tration. Boris.  Seek  &.  Sink,  Needs  color 

monitor. 
MAJOR  LEAGUE  BASEBALL  (203)  Super 

baseball  game.  Neat  graphics.  CGA. 
EGA  GOLF  (250)    18  holes  of  the   best 

scenery  available.  Requires  EGA. 
SIMBASE(206, 207)  (2  disks)  Great  baseball 

simulation  with  detailed  analysis. 
BASS  TOUR  (25a)  New!   Feature -packed 

fishing   game.   Select    rod,   reel,   bait. 

everyttilng.  Needs  CGA  or  EGA. 
BOARD  GAMES  ^^2\23^)  Checkers,  Cfiess. 

Dominoes.  Backgammon.  Needs  CGA. 
ADVENTURE  GAMES  #2  (246)    Empire  & 

McMurphy's  Mansion. 
STRATEGIC  WAR  GAMES  i22fi)  War  on  Ifie 

Sea.  Tank  &  African  Desert  Campaign, 
ARCADE  SPORTS  GAMES  (223)  PC-Pool. 

PC-Sowl  &  Archery.  CGA  or  EGA 
ARCADE  GAMES  ^1  (216)  Spiders,  Tank 

Wars  £.  Disk  Crash.  Requires  CGA. 
EGA  FOOTBALL  (257)  New!  You  control  all 

tfie  great  action.  Plays  like  a  real  foot- 
ball game.  Needs  EGA. 


ununis 


VIRUSCAN  (403)  NEW!  Best,  easiest  virus 

protection.  Updated  to  catch  new  vJrus. 
NEWSPACE  (410)  NEW!  Was  commerctal. 

Terrific  automatic  ttard  disk  space  saver, 
DBS'KAT  <4ZS)  I^EW!  Great  disk  cataloging 

system  w/no  data  entrv-  3a4K.  DOS  3.D  + . 
SCREEN   CAPTURE  (4451   NEW!   Captufe 

screens  in  CGA,  EGA,  VGA  &  save  todisk. 
PC'BROWSE  1492)  NEW!  Incredible  (lie  & 

teKt  search  from  makers  of  PC'Wrile. 

HypBrtexl.  Cut/Paste,  much  more.  640K. 
LIST  (417)  Read  text  tiles  on  screen.  Ah- 

tfme  best! 
BATCH   FILE  MENUING  (4191   Easily  add 

professional  menus  to  batch  files. 
BAKER'S   DOZEN  (406)  Powerful   package 

ot  14  utilities  Irom  Jiiri  Button.  Top  rated- 
CGA  SIMULATOR  (433)  Run  most  CGA  pro- 
grams on  Hercules  compatible  mono- 

ctirome  cards. 
HARD  DISK  UTILITIES  (437)  Very  useful. 


MBIUS  and  DESKTOP 


POWER  DESK  (606)  NEW'  Superb  desktop 
manager  &  complete  ottice  system. 

POWER  MENU  (702)  Excellent,  easy  menu- 
ing  program.  Needs  hard  disk, 

TREEVIEW  (706)  New!  Ouf  tavofite  DOS 
command  shell  with  pull  down  menus. 


DATABASE 


dUTE  (1031)  Amazing  dBASE  mulli-utillty 
incl.  cut  i  paste,  and  much  more. 

FILE  EXPRESS  4.XX  (1002-1003)  (2  disks) 
Easy,  powerful  database.  PC-Magazine 
said  it  "perfbrms  like  a  thoroughbred.'' 

THOUGHT  ORGANIZER  (1013)  Text  based 
database  organizes  data  and  thoughts. 

dPHOG  (1022)  Fantastic  dBASE  III  auto- 
programmer  writes  ait  codes  tor  you. 

WAMPUM  (1006. 1007)  (2  disks)  Superb,  fuii- 
leatured  dBASE  111  clone.  Requires 
ai2K,  hard  disk. 

dFLIPPEfi(1025)  New!  Directly  edit  dBASE 
&  compatible  files  from  DOS. 

PC-  FILE  +  2-0  11009-1011)  13  disks)  Jim  But- 
ton's relational  database  masterpiece. 


:i 


Wf 

^ 


HELPPERFECT  (8011  for  S.O.  (MS)  (or  4.1  4 
4.2.  fvJEWt  Incredible  must-have  Word- 
Perfect utility-  Putl-ttown  menus  with  70 
commands. 

WORDPERFECT  5.0  TOOLS  (841)  ASCII  to 
WPS  format  convener  plus  other  super 
utilities  to  improve  performance. 

PC-WRITE  3.03  (S09-811)  0  disks)  New!  Top 
rated  wfspeil  checker, 

WORDPERFECT  CLIPART  (843.  844)  (2 
disks)  Over  180  great  graphics. 

PRO-SCRIBE  (822)  Newi  Really  improves 
impact  and  clarity  of  your  writing. 

WORDPEBFECT  MACROS  (B31)  for  5.0. 
(S37)  (or  4.2  70  great  macros  templates. 


AS  EASY  AS  4.0  (90^  NEW!  Great  Lotus  123 
clone,  (.atest  with  8,192x256  grid.  CJoes 
almost  everv  Lotus  function. 

QUBEOALC  (903)  Unique,  powerful  3-D 
spreadsneet.  View  data  as  nevef  before. 

LOTUS  TEMPLATES  (907)  Ready  to  run.  Re- 
quires Lotus  123. 

LOTUS  MACROS  (908)  Saves  loads  of  time. 
Requires  Lotus  123. 

123  POWER  WORKSHEETS  (911-912)  (2 
disks)  13  great  worksheets  for  Lotus. 


CREATIVITY 


CREATIVITY  PACKAGE  (3000-^002)  (3 
disks)  Unique,  3-phase  pkg.  Computer 
brainstorming  unleashes  your  creativity. 

IDEA  TREE  (3003)  Unique  thinking  tool  &  info 
manager.  Gain  control  o(  thoughts  with 
graphic  display  of  ideas.  Top  honors. 


PBOOBAMMINO 


ADVBAS  (t413)  Best  Basic  programming  aid. 

Advanced  function  llbtary.  windows. 
AOQ  and  D86  (1403-1404)  (2  disks)  Finest 

macro  assembler  5  debugger.  Fast! 
EBL  a  OPAL  (14D7)  Two  fantastic  batch 

language  processors.  Super-charge  your 

batch  tiles. 


ORAPHICS 


ICON  VERT  (1600)  NEW!  Powerful  graphics 
(lie  converter.  Converts  between  16  fonnats. 
Needs  graphics.  2  floppies  or  hard  disk. 
PC-KEY  DRAW  (1607.1609)  (3  disks)  Power- 
ful drawing/CAD  program  with  clip  art. 
CGA,  EGA.  or  H6RC  wJCGA  emulation. 
FINGER  PAINT  (1620)  UkB  PC-Paint  brush. 

Requires  graphics  card- 
VGA  PAINT  (1622)  Newi  Graphics/drawing 

in  24B  coiors.  Requires  VGA.  460K. 

PRINTMASTER  GRAPHICS  (1602.  1603)  12 

disks)  1.000  gteal  graphics  (orPnnlmaster. 

PRINT  SHOP   GRAPHICS  11663.  1664)  (2 

disks)  New!  1.000  graphics  for  Print  Shop. 


HOUSmOlD 


A^flECIPES  (1831)  NEW!  Computer  chgf  with 

loads  ot  delicious  recipes. 
PC-BARTENDER  (1823)  Professionally  mix 

almost  any  drink. 
GARDERNER'S  ASSISTANT^ISOS)  Plan  youf 

garden  in  eve^  detaii. 
VIDEO    LIBRARIAN   (1812)   Catalogs   your 

videotape  library.  Menu-driven. 
SHOPPERS  ASSISTANT  (Ifilfi)  Easy  grocery 

Shopping  and  coupon  tiler. 


Call  Toll  Free  for  800-359-9998 

SAM  E  DAY  SHIPPING     orders  Only  &  Free  Catalog 


CIRCLE  DISK  NOS.  OR  SEND  ORDER  ON  SEPARATE  SHEET  OF  PAPER 

Nams  

ArJdresB 

Cily/State/Zip    


No.  oltiisks X  S2.89ea.  (Pay  lor  ea,  disk  In  rnuliiple  disk  sets)  =  

($2.39  each  10  or  more  dis)ssl 

Checks.  Money  Orders.  3-5 '  d  isk  s  -  add  SI  ea.  =  

viSA'MC.  COD  Accepted  CA  residents  add  6.5%  sales  tax  =  

lAdd  S4  lor  CODI  Shipping  and  handling  =       S3.50 

Check  disk  size:  5  v." 


3Vi  -_ 


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Total  =  

.  EXP.  DATE  ^ 


^  The  Software  Labs  o 

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EDUCATIOH*  TUTORIALS 


TOTAL  RECALL  (327)  NEWI  Helps  you 
memorize  any  subject.  Requires  448K. 

AMERICAN  STATES  (338.  339)  (2  disks) 
NEW!  Great  U.S.  States  education. 

TOUCH  TYPE  TUTOR  (300)  NEW!  Superb 
interactive  typing  instructor. 

WORDPERFECT  LEARNING  SYSTEM  (353, 
354)  (or  4.2. 1365.  358)  tor  5-0. 

COMPUTOH  TUTOR  (30i)  Coutplele 
interactive  DOS  and  computer  tutorial. 

EASY  DOS  (3051  Two  great  programs  make 
using  DOS  very  easy. 

SPANISH  TUTOR  (351)  3  powerful  pro- 
grams to  help  you  learn  Spattlsli. 


municahons 


PRIVATEACCESS(1Tia>NEW!  Connects  PC 
10  answeiing  &  FAX  machines.  &  pagers. 

PROCOMM  (1700.  1701)  (2  disksJ  Newest. 
All  features,  menu-driven.  Top  rated. 


BUSINESS  ft  FINAHCE 


POSTAL  CONSULTANT  (8934)  NEW!  Com- 

puleiized  US,  Postal  rufas  guide. 
FREIGHT  ■«-    16904,  SSOS  (2  disks)  NEW! 

Top  rated  commerciaf  UPS  stilpping 

system.  Complele,  fully  lunctional.  Re- 
quires DOS  3h0  -i-  .  3S0K,  nard  disk. 
FIN  ANCE  MAN  AG  ER II  (S917-e922>{S  disks) 

NEW!  Best  business  accounting.  GIL, 

AJP,  A/R,  Payroll.  2  floppies  or  tiard  disk. 
ACTIVE  LIFE  (509,  510)(2  dtsksl  NEW!  Best 

ever  appointmenl^scNeduling  program. 

Unique  features  m  a  grapnic  interface. 

Needs  graphics  moniior.  512K,  tiard disk. 
MASS    APPEAL   11963)    NEW!    Complete 

powerful!  mail  list  manager.  Requires 

5^2K.  2  floppies  or  hard  disk. 
AREA  CODE  FtNDER  (l9G2)  Quickly  finds 

US  &  foreign  area  codes. 
RENTALS  i1951)  Fast,  powerful  property 

management.  Menu-driver,  easy  to  use. 

Requires  420K,  2  Hopples  or  tiard  disk, 
ZIP  CODE  FfNDER(IBOO)  Newi  Computerrz- 

ed  zip  code  book.  Ultra  last  searcti, 
FASTBUCKS    (1903)    Fast,    easy,    tiome 

(inance  package.  Needs  graphics  cafd. 
SOLVE^IT!  i1919}  29  menu-driven  financial 

calculations. 
EXPRESS  CHECK  (1922)  New!  Great  check 

book  mgr  Menu-dr^en,  prints  ctiecks 

and  reports. 
EASY     PROJECT    (1932)    Total     project 

manageJ'.  GantI  charts,  reports. 
ASC   IN'CONTROL  (1952,  1950)  12  Disks) 

Salea    prospecing/lracKing.    billing, 

scheduling,  auto^lial,  labels. 
FONE  (1954>  Nev>f!  Price  your  phone  calls 

wtijfe  you're  on  the  line  &  save  money. 
BUSINESS    FORM     LETTERS    (1936)    KM 

comrrcr  D^^moss  lotTprs.  Fill  in  blanks. 


TRIP    PLANNER    1130S)    NEW!    fanla$1lc 

computerized    U.S.    roadchart,    Finds 

shortest  routes,  much  more! 
COLLEGE  PROBE  (384)  NEW!  A  weaHh  of 

into  helps  you  select  best  college. 
ELECTRONIC    ALMANAC    (270O)    NEW! 

Hunc^reds  of  tradUlonal  features. 
JORJ  (331, 332)  (2  disks)  NEWl  Extraordinary 

phonetic    English   dictionary.    Powerful, 

unique  features.  Needs  hard  disk. 
MICRO  WORLD  DATA  BANK  (2608'2&12)  (5 

disks)   UEtra   detailed   world   mapping. 

Produced  by  the  CIA.  Needs  CGA  or 

EGA.  Features  2  types  ot  mapping. 
PIANOMAN  4.0  (2202)  Play  and  conipose 

music.  New  update  is  better  them  ever. 
WORLD   (2600)   Stunning!    Featurfrpaoked 

world  map  w/zpom.  Needs  CGA  or  EGA. 
ASTROLOGY  9.S  (2701)  Complete,  accurate 

chart  calculation. 
LOTTO    BUSTER    (2130)    Lottery    program 

reaUy  works  on  any  picl^-dpicH-?  lottery. 
WISDOM    OF    THE    AGES    (121B-121S)    (3 

disks!  New!  BSOQ  quotes  on  61  subjects 

from  history's  greatest  minds. 


Circle  Raader  S*rvico  Numb«r  143 


smash  into  the  side  of  a  building  and 
crash  to  the  street.  Unfortunately,  you 
fall  atop  a  fellow  manhunten  render- 
ing him  essentially  iwo-dimensionai. 
It's  not  a  pretty  sight.  Phil  hovers 
above  you,  laughing  wildly,  then 
zooms  away — and  you're  on  your  own. 

The  object  of  Manhunter  2  is, 
among  other  things,  to  explore  vari- 
ous places  throughout  San  Francisco. 
That  is  done  with  the  help  of  an  on- 


A  building  is  swallowed  by  a  mound  that 
appears  In  Manhunter  2:  San  Francisco. 

screen  marker  that's  smoothly  con- 
trolled using  the  cursor  keys  or  the 
joystick. 

The  marker  is  interesting  and  it- 
self becomes  an  important  part  of 
play.  It  changes  shape  when  posi- 
tioned over  important  objects,  and 
the  shape  it  assumes  gives  useful 
hints.  For  example,  an  open  hand  in- 
dicates that  you  can  take  or  manipu- 
late the  object;  a  pointing  finger  tells 
you  that  you  can  press  or  push  some- 
thing; and  a  magnifying  glass  suggests 
that  you  can  take  a  close  look  at 
something. 

Further  exploration  may  turn 
your  marker  into  a  question  mark, 
which  indicates  that  something  is  dis- 
played in  the  message  bar  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  screen.  Read  it,  and  you 
may  get  a  useful  clue  concerning  that 
object. 

After  exploring  a  particular 
screen,  it's  travel  time.  Pressing  F3 
brings  up  the  travel  map.  Your  cur- 
rent position  is  shown  by  an  X,  and 
orb-approved  destinations  are  indicat- 
ed by  blinking  squares.  You  can  move 
to  the  next  map  section  by  moving 
your  marker  to  the  edge  of  the  screen. 

As  you  track  Phil  through  San 
Francisco,  you'll  do  more  than  ma- 
nipulate markers.  From  time  to  time 
the  view  will  shift  to  third  person  and 
you'll  be  faced  with  arcade-style 
obstacles. 

Less  experienced  adventurers  will 
like  the  game's  interface  because  it 
eliminates  a  lot  of  frustration.  More 
experienced  players,  however,  may 
wish  for  a  greater  challenge.  But  play- 
ers of  all  levels  will  appreciate  the  ex- 
ceptional graphics,  the  variety,  and 


the  alternating  tension  and  humor. 

The  game's  command  summary 
card,  a  quick-reference  sheet,  and  the 
Official  Manhunter's  Field  Guide  are 
a  lot  of  help  to  the  neophyte  adventur- 
er. Manhunter  2  runs  on  systems  with 
Hercules,  CGA,  EGA,  MCGA,  or 
VGA  monitors. 

Admittedly,  Manhunter  2  is 
probably  a  bit  simplistic  for  dyed-in- 
the-wool  adventure  fans.  Even  so,  it's 
addictive.  If  you're  a  newcomer  to  the 
genre  or  you're  just  curious  about  why 
the  Transamerica  Pyramid  is  being 
buried  by  that  mysterious  growing 
mound,  then  here's  a  game  you'll 
enjoy. 

STEVE  HUnSON 


IBM  PC  and  compatibles— $49.95 

SIERRA  ON-LINE 
RO.  Box  485 
Coarsegold.  CA  93614 
(209)  683-4468 


CRIBBAGE 
KINE/GIN  Kl 

For  those  times  when  hu- 
man opponents  are 
scarce,  Cribbage  King/ 
Gin  King  substitutes  ad- 
mirably. The  people  at 
The  Software  Toolworks 
have  almost  completely 
captured  the  feel  of  these 
two  card  games.  The 
package  is  a  two-headed 
deal — both  Gin  King  and 
Cribbage  King  on  the  same  disk. 

In  Gin  King,  the  only  drawback  is 
that  you  can't  arrange  your  own  cards. 
Otherwise,  the  game  is  very  accurate 
and  entertaining.  You  can  choose  be- 
tween two  styles  of  gin;  gin  rummy,  in 
which  you  can  knock  (end  a  hand) 
with  ten  or  fewer  points,  and  Oklaho- 
ma gin,  in  which  you  turn  up  a  card 
from  a  separate  deck  and  must  knock 
with  fewer  points  than  that  card 
indicates. 

In  Cribbage  King,  the  only  draw- 
back is  that  you  can't  peg  your  own 
points  on  the  cribbage  board.  An  espe- 
cially nice  feature,  however,  will  count 
your  points  for  you  or  let  you  count 
your  own.  The  second  option  awards 
any  miscounted  points  to  your  oppo- 
nent, though,  so  be  careful.  As  in  Gin 
King,  the  different  options  in  Crib- 
bage King  really  add  to  the  game's 
appeal. 

In  both  games,  you  can  choose 
from  several  opponents  of  varying 
skills.  If  you  don't  know  how  to  ptay 


cribbage  or  gin,  the  Help  menu  will 
teach  you.  Another  option  lets  you 
play  the  same  hand  several  times, 
looking  for  the  best  possible  way  to 
play  the  cards. 

Graphics  are  good,  with  sharp  re- 
productions of  the  playing  cards  and  a 
dark  green  background  that  looks  like 
a  felt  tablecloth.  The  cribbage  board  is 
shaded  so  that  the  wood  looks  tex- 
tured and  3-D. 

If  you  love  to  play  cards,  or  if  you 
just  want  to  learn  some  new  games, 
draw  Cribbage  King/Gin  King  from 
the  stack  of  computer  packages. 
You'll  enjoy  your  electronic  oppo- 
nents, and  maybe  you'll  learn  some 
tricks  for  the  next  time  you  face  a  hu- 
man across  the  card  table. 

HEIDI  £.  H.AYCOCK 


IBM  PC  and  compatibles  vinth  3e4K- 
S59.95 

THE  SOFTWARE  TOOLWORKS 
19808  Nordhoff  PI. 
Ctialsworth,  CA  91311 
(818)885-9000 


I 


Sport  of  kings,  that's  the 
way  thoroughbred  horse 
racing  is  described.  But 
that  moniker  seems  less 
related  to  regal  breeding 
and  high-society  cliques 
than  it  does  to  the  size  of 
the  bankroll  you  need  to 
enjoy  this  sport  in  style.  If 
you're  part  of  the  iwo- 
dollar-window  crowd, 
SportTime's  Horse  Racing  gives  you 
the  chance  to  try  your  handicapping 
skills  without  risking  your  wallet  and 


Enjoy  a  day  at  the  races  without  aHecl- 
ing  your  wallet  as  you  play  Horse  Racing. 

redefines  the  phrase  off-track  betting. 
Horse  Racing  is  designed  to  offer 
players  an  expandable  game  format 
through  use  of  software  modules. 
With  the  original  package,  you  receive 
the  Handicapper's  Tournament  and 
the  Track  1  disks.  If,  after  you've 
played  the  game  for  a  while,  you  want 


100 


COMPUTE 


FEBRUARY        1990 


lo  discover  other  aspects  of  horse  racing,  you  can  buy 
separate  disks  to  add  to  the  original  system.  So  far, 
SportTime  has  released  two  supplementary  disks:  Track 
2  and  Stable  Owners. 

'    The  Handicapper's  Tournament  is  a  competition 
between  you  and  19  other  racetrack  rounders.  Up  to  four 
humans  can  play;  the  program  generates  its  own  bettors 
to  make  up  the  20.  .A.I1  players  start  with  the  same 
amount  of  money,  and  you  can  set  the  skill  level  to  Easy, 
Normal,  or  Hard.  The  game  ends  after  one  of  three  crite- 
ria that  you  define  is  met:  A  certain  number  of  races  are 
run,  a  certain  number  of  race  bets  are  made  by  each 
player,  or  one  of  the  bettors  reaches  a  predefined  dollar 
amount. 

Once  you've  established  the  ground  rules,  it's  time 
to  head  for  the  track  and  the  game's  main  menu.  To  be- 
gin play,  select  Entry  Information;  you'll  move  to  a 
screen  that  resembles  the  program  at  many  tracks. 
Here's  where  you  can  see  the  names  of  the  horses  and 
their  jockeys,  the  number  of  times  they've  finished  in  the 
money,  the  total  number  of  races  each  horse  has  run,  the 
track  conditions,  the  post  positions,  and  the  odds. 

This  information,  while  helpful,  doesn't  go  too  far 
in  picking  a  winner.  For  that  you  need  the  the  racing 
form.  This  game  compiles  its  own  cumulative  collection 
of  stats  on  each  horse,  which  you  can  see  by  highlighting 
the  horse's  name  and  pressing  the  Enter  key  or  by  using 
your  joystick.  My  only  complaint  about  the  game  con- 
cerns its  lack  of  mouse  support;  if  there  ever  was  a  game 
that  begged  for  a  mouse,  this  is  it.  SportTime  should  of- 
fer a  mouse-support  upgrade  in  the  future. 

Reading  the  racing  form  takes  practice,  but  you  can 
pick  it  up  pretty  easily  with  Horse  Racing's  version.  In 
this  game  you  have  a  Past  Performances  screen  that,  if 
used  wisely,  can  give  you  a  very  definite  edge  over  the 
other  bettors. 

Back  at  the  main  menu,  you  move  to  the  betting 
window.  This  was  the  most  difficult  part  of  the  game  for 
me  because  as  a  kid  I  lived  near  Keeneland,  a  small  and 
very  traditional  racetrack  in  Kentucky  where  the  most 
exotic  bets  allowed  were  the  daily  double  and  six-dollar 
combination.  In  Horse  Racing.  I  could  choose  not  just 
from  the  normal  win,  place,  or  show  bets,  but  also  from 
such  strange  breeds  as  the  quinella,  exacta  double,  triple 
box,  and  more.  Fortunately,  the  manual  explains  these 
exotic  wagers  pretty  well 

If  you're  stumped  on  a  bet,  and  you  have  a  least 
S 100,  you  can  buy  a  tip  from  one  of  the  computer  handi- 
cappers.  The  cost  of  the  tip  relates  directly  to  the  handi- 
capper's success  at  the  window,  but  not  always  to  the  bet 
that  the  handicapper  will  place  on  that  race. 

Select  Run  Next  Race  from  the  main  menu  and 
you're  transported  to  the  grandstand.  The  track  and  the 
horses  are  rendered  in  CGA  graphics,  but  don't  set  your- 
self up  for  disappointment.  To  their  credit,  the  game's 
designers  have  made  good  use  of  the  four-color  palette. 
The  result  is  a  detailed  and  attractive  view  of  the  race- 
course. (SportTime's  Track  2  module  sports  EGA  graph- 
ics.) The  running  horse  figures  give  way  to  numbers 
when  the  horses  are  in  a  turn,  but  you  shouldn't  find  that 
too  distracting. 

I  couldn't  believe  how  well  Horse  Racing  captures 
the  feel  of  a  real  day  at  the  track.  The  entry  information 
is  a  gold  mine  for  stat  nuts,  the  competition  among 
handicappers  is  fierce,  and  the  races  are  exciting  and  ex- 
tremely realistic.  What's  more,  by  compiling  a  history  of 
statistics  for  each  horse  and  rider,  the  game  becomes 
even  more  lifelike  as  you  continue  your  parimutuel  bet- 
ting adventure. 


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I 


FAynA« 

compu»?PTODuci:b 


7030C  Hunfley  Rood  ■  Columbus,  Ohio  43229 

ALWAYS  CALL  1-800-272-1600 

TOLL-FREE 


TIT 

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1-800-438-1 168  cohto) 

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0,S„  F,P,0.,  andA,P,0,,  add  3%  (rranimtim  $4,00)  (or  each  siiipment. 
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Circle  Reader  Service  Number  134 


It's  hard  to  explain  the  thrill  of 
horse  racing  to  those  who  have  never 
participated,  but  this  game  provides 
a  satisfying  glimpse  into  what  the 
thoroughbred  world  is  all  about.  The 
program  wins  high  praise  for  its 
meticulous  detail,  imaginative  use  of 
graphics,  realistic  play,  and  thoughtful 
modular  structure.  It's  a  sure  bet  for 
the  winner's  circle. 

PETER  SflSC'O 


Amiga— $49.95 

IBM  PC  and  compatibles— $49.95 

Track  2  support  disk— $1 4.95 

Stable  Owners  module  (oltiers  still  to  be 

released) — $19.95 

SPORTTIME 

Distributed  by  Broderbund 
17  Paul  Dr. 

San  Rafael,  CA  94903-2101 
(415)  492-3200 


GET-A-REF 


Serious  research  is  tough 
work,  but  computers 
have  made  things  easier. 
Word  processors,  ency- 
clopedias on  CD-ROM, 
online  databases — these 
and  similar  modern-day 
tools  have  improved  pro- 
ductivity while  easing  the 
pain  commonly  associat- 
ed with  writing  research 
papers.  DatAid's  Get-a-Ref\ersion 
4. 1  allows  researchers  to  create  their 
own  source  lists,  search  them  for  rele- 
vant data,  and  move  that  data  directly 
into  word  processing  documents  with- 
out tedious  retyping. 

The  complete  Get-a-Ref  package 
consists  of  six  individual  program 
modules:  Get-a-Ref  (a  pop-up  utility), 
Garlnst,  CreForm,  GarList,  GarSort, 
and  Convert.  All  of  these  work  togeth- 
er to  simplify  the  handling  of  ab- 
stracts, reprints,  and  other  source 
materials  that  are  commonly  used  by 
researchers. 

The  Convert  utility  is  a  great  tool 
with  which  to  begin  a  thesis.  It  reads 
ASCII  files  taken  from  online  data- 
bases such  as  MedLine,  BIOIS,  IRIS 
(a  database  for  ophthalmologists), 
Chemical  Abstracts,  and  Excerpta 
Medica  and  transforms  them  into 
Gel-a-Ref'%  file  format.  It  creates  a 
separate  record  for  each  reference  and 
places  titles,  authors,  and  other  data 
into  predefined  fields.  The  result  is  a 
fully  functional  file  filled  with  scientif- 
ic abstracts.  Those  who  use  networks 
not  already  supported  can  accept 
DatAid's  offer  to  write  additional 
Convert  routines  upon  request. 
To  continue  with  the  process, 


Get-a-Ref,  a  106K  RAM-resident  ref- 
erence manager,  can  be  loaded. 
Among  its  other  features,  Get-a-Ref 
allows  you  to  load  files,  delete  unnec- 
essary entries,  and  modify  records  as 
desired.  Once  you've  converted  the 
files  you  have  downloaded,  you  can 
combine  them  with  Get-a-Ref 's  Ap- 
pend command.  The  familiar  menu 
bar  and  drop-down  menus  provide 
sufficient  guidance  for  most  situa- 
tions. To  complete  a  file,  handwritten 
references  have  to  be  manually  en- 
tered using  the  program's  built-in 
editor. 

In  automatic  mode.  Select  finds 
all  entries  that  match  a  given  search 
string.  Alternatively,  records  can  be 
manually  located  and  selected.  Once 
all  relevant  entries  have  been  marked, 
the  Write  command  will  create  a  file. 

Now  the  actual  writing  begins. 
On  a  640K  computer,  Get-a-Ref 
works  in  tandem  with  most  popular 
word  processors.  Pressing  the  ALT-R 
key  combination  activates  the  Get-a- 
Ref  TSR  (Terminate-and-Stay-Resi- 
dent)  module.  From  here,  quotations 
can  be  marked  and  copied  to  a  word 
processor  or  automatically  document- 
ed with  a  citation  in  long-  or  short- 
form  footnotes.  Just  a  few  keystrokes 
will  do  it  all. 

Footnote  formats  can  be  estab- 
lished with  CreForm,  a  utility  that  lets 
you  design  footnote-format  files.  Set 
up  the  format  once  and  Get-a-Ref 
handles  everything  from  then  on. 
Those  who  use  different  formats  for 
different  professors  or  journals  can 


"(1*,  KllHlLl 


oH  •¥DkdJ  t^  itimlaUoa  sf  *rr*real  C  r[hnj:  the  cffKt 

J*«rofOj  lliwli.    ]«lti    ioBjBT   (Klj,   tl   PllR   tt*  Ml   i^olilJuJ   ky  H    l.K. 

;!**"*  "*  WI4WD*!  B.Z  Bf/hT.  ^1^  iMlr  tit  MMkr  at  mxnJlR  *sifl— 

You  can  easily  organize  your  research 
for  maximum  efficiency  witfi  Get-a-Ref. 


design  as  many  format  files  as  neces- 
sary and  choose  from  them. 

When  it's  time  to  write  a  bibliog- 
raphy, GarSort  sorts  entries  by  source, 
author,  or  year.  GarList  creates  an 
ASCII  text  file  and  saves  it  on  disk. 
From  there  the  list  can  be  printed  di- 
rectly through  DOS  or  appended  to  a 
word  processing  document. 

The  recently  revised  manual 
comes  in  a  loose-leaf  binder  with  ex- 
tensive screen  illustrations.  It  pro- 
vides clear  and  adequate  assistance  to 


ensure  success  with  the  program's 
functions. 

Overall,  Get-a-Ref  performs  its 
job  well.  Keep  in  mind,  however,  that 
this  is  a  highly  specialized  application 
designed  to  fill  a  specific  purpose.  But 
for  those  with  the  need,  Get-a-Refwill 
simplify  the  process  of  researching, 
writing  footnotes,  and  organizing 
bibliographies. 

DAVID  STANTON 


IBM  PC  and  compatibles— S250 

DATAID 
P.O.  Box  8865 
Madison,  Wl  53708-8865 
(608)  258-7767 


DON'T  GO  AlONE 

A  haunted  house  sets  the 
perfect  stage  for  adven- 
ture. Your  heart  races; 
your  hair  pulls  away  from 
your  skin;  you  sweat. 
What  a  wonderful  feeling. 
Accolade's  first  at- 
tempt at  role-playing 
games,  Don 't  Go  Alone,  is 
ajourney through  a 
haunted  house  so  large 
that  you'll  think  you're  in  a  mall.  Nas- 
ty creatures  lurk  around  every  corner, 
down  every  hall.  Some,  you  can  con- 
quer in  one  battle.  Others  keep  com- 
ing back  for  more. 

Patience  is  the  key.  You  can't  fin- 
ish this  game  in  one  sitting;  the  action 
isn't  very  fast-paced,  and  the  interface 
is  sluggish.  The  story  line  has  great  po- 
tential, but  it  unfolds  too  slowly. 

The  premise  of  the  game  is  fertile 
ground  for  a  good  suspense  tale.  Your 
grandfather  tried  to  prove  that  this 
large  house  is  haunted.  In  the  process, 
he  disappeared  into  the  depths  of  the 
old  building.  On  the  bottom  floor,  ten 
levels  away,  you'll  meet  up  with  the 
Demon  of  .All  Demons.  Beat  him  in 
battle  and  your  grandfather  will  go 
free. 

As  ghost  stories  go,  this  game 
isn't  strong  on  plot.  You  move  from 
room  to  room  and,  most  of  the  time, 
at  least  one  monster  attacks  you.  Spe- 
cial weapons  and  magical  chemical 
concoctions  are  your  only  defense.  As 
the  levels  gel  deeper,  so  does  the  trou- 
ble. Besides  monsters,  you'll  encoun- 
ter other  dangers,  such  as  darkness 
squares  and  fear  squares. 

You  see  the  adventure  through 
four  characters:  a  technician,  a  chem- 
ist, a  psychic,  and  a  fighter.  They  start 
out  as  beginners,  but,  as  they  gain 
experience,  they  advance  in  rank  and 
become  more  powerful.  If  you  could 


102       COMPUTE 


FEBRUARY        1990 


A  SYSTEM  SIMULATION  FROM  MAXIS 


IBM  EGA  screer 


Cortront  Dlsaslers- 
flDDds,  earthiiuakes.tamadas, 
mslldowns  and  monsters 


BUILD^OMEIN  A  DAY 

D£S1  ROY  IT  n  AN  HOUR! 

Enter  SimCity,  the  City  Simulator,  and  take  ciiarge  of  an  evolving,  growing  city.  Become 
mayor  of  a  dynamic  real-time  urban  simulation.  Yourcity  is  populated  by  Sims — simulated 
citizens.  Sims  live,  work,  play,  drive— and  complain  about  taxes,  traffic,  taxes,  crime  and 
taxes — just  like  us.  You  control  the  fate  of  the  city.  You  zone  land,  balance  budgets,  control 
crime,  traffic  and  pollution. 


Satisfied  SimCity  players 
say  It  best... 

Great  game!  I'm  hooked  • 
I've  got  SimCity  syndrome!  • 
I  find  SimCity  to  be  the  most 
addicting,  educational,  and 
the  best  game  I  have  ever 
played!  •  Amazing!  •  I  may 
quit  my  job  so  I  can  play 
more...  well,  nah  •  You  guys 
are  Maximum  Pinheads  • 
SimCity  Is  not  Just  a  game, 
it's  a  way  of  life  •  Simply  the 
best  computer  game  I've 
ever  played!  •  SimCity 
should  be  outlawed!!  It's 
addictive  *  Fantastic!  I've 
been  playing  almost  non- 
stop for  4  days!  •  Excellent 
game!  But  I've  been  losing  a 
lot  of  sleep  since  I  bought  it 

•  Wow!!  •  It's  a  blast!  • 
TERRIFIC!  FANTASTIC!  • 
Awesome!!  •  Super!!!  •  The 
airplane  pilots  are  psychotic 

•  Amazing — all  mayors  need 
to  understand  this  too;  mine 
doesn't  •  It's  like  an 
electronic  ant  farm  • 
Outstanding!  •  What  a 
fantastic  program!  •  My  4 
year  old  loves  it  too!  •  , 
Excellent  program!  Learning  \_j4 
can  be  fun  and  addicting^v^.# 
Best  game  ever  for  the       ^^ 
Amiga  •  My  wife  and  I  really 
love  this  software  •  1  stay  up  until  2  a.m. 
playing  it  everyday!  •  Thank  you  for  a 
piece  of  intelligent,  educational  and 
thought-provoking  software  •  Absolutely 
wonderful  idea  and  program  •  Excellent 
product,  I  wish  I'd  thought  of  it!!  •  I've 
never  seen  a  program  like  this  •  Make 
more  Sim  games,  nothing  even  comes 
close  •  On  a  scale  of  1-10  this  one's  a  20l!l  • 
This  is  a  totally  different,  stimulating, 
engrossing  and  visually  enjoyable 
program.  •  Splffy!  •  Great,  Great  and 
Great!  • 

(These  comments  are  from  tlie  correspondence 
from  real  SimCity  users.  Honest!) 


•  Simple  to  play — ail  Icons  and 
graphics,  no  text  commands. 

•  Loaded  with  animation  and 
detailed  sound  effects. 

•  An  endless  numbep  of  possible 
cities — all  different. 

•  Exceptional  depth  of  play. 


DESIGN  AND  BUILD  THE 
CITY  OF  YOUR  DREAMS 

Collect  taxes.  Build 
homes,  stores  and  facto- 
ries— even  nuclear  power 
plants.  Design  mass  tran- 
sit. Hire  police.  Build  a 
football  Stadium.  Create  an 
urban  Utopia. 

OR  TURN  CITY  LIFE  INTO 
A  NIGHTMARE. 

Raise  taxes.  Bulldoze 
entire  neighborlioods. 
Manipulate  property  val- 
ues. Causetornados,  earth- 
quakes, floods,  fires  and 
other  disasters  at  your 
whim. 

SIMCITY  TAKES  ON  A 
LIFE  OF  ITS  OWN. 

Build  roads— cars  ap- 
pear. Lay  track— trains  go. 
Build  an  airport — planes 
fly.  Helicopters  report  on 
traffic.  Factories  cause 
pollution.  Neighborhoods 
go  condo.  Areas  deterio- 
rate into  slums.  Lead  a 
thriving  metropolis  or  be 
left  broke,  mayorof  a  ghost 
town. 

SIMCITY  GIVES  YOU  THE 
KEY  TO  THE  CITY.  THE 
REST  IS  UP  TO  YOU. 


SimCity. 

1989 

GAME  OF     

THE  YEARi^      .^^^ 

JVflamiiis Wortdl  gee 0^1  W*""  ^y 


Distributed  by  BrBderbund 


Available  for:  IBIM  &  Compatibies,  Tandy, 
Macintosh,  Amiga  and  l^ommodore  64/128. 

IVIaxis  Software 

1042  Couirtiy  dull  Drive,  Suite  C,  Moraga,  CA  9455E 
I41S)  37B'6434,  FAX  (41 5)  37G-1823 
Circle  Reader  Service  Number  158 


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play  an  active  role  in  the  party,  this 
four-person  group  would  be  very  in- 
teresting. Except  for  guiding  the  char- 
acters through  the  mazelike  house, 
however,  you  aren't  directly  involved. 
You  can  use  a  mouse  or  the  key- 
board to  activate  directional  icons. 
This  makes  it  easy  to  get  around  the 


In  Don't  Go  Alone,  you'll  have  to  deal 
with  a  wide  variety  of  surprises. 

house  (it's  better  thaj:  typing  text  di- 
rections). But  when  it  comes  to  battle, 
the  game's  interface  isn't  very  good. 

Battle  is  dull.  You  fight  by  hitting 
the  left-arrow  key,  or  you  build  a  for- 
mula by  hitting  the  right-arrow  key. 
There's  no  skill  involved;  the  game 
decides  if  you  hit  the  monster,  if  you 
incurred  any  damage,  if  you  were 
scared  by  the  monster,  and  so  on. 

During  fights,  the  interface  is 
anything  but  responsive.  Offensive  ac- 
tions take  several  keypresses.  In  the 
meantime,  the  monster  is  terrifying 
your  other  characters,  driving  them 
crazy  with  fear. 

If  you  don't  want  your  characters 
to  go  insane  with  fear,  you  must  spend 
a  lot  of  time  waiting  for  their  fear  lev- 
els to  decrease.  To  calm  them  down, 
you  can  either  brew  up  some  antifear 
potions  or  sit  and  wait  until  the  yellow 
fear  bar  sinks  to  0,  which  slows  down 
the  game  even  more. 

.All  in  all,  Don 't  Go  Alone  lacks 
the  element  of  surprise.  Even  when  I 
ran  into  new  puzzles  and  new  frights, 
I  didn't  have  that  fearful  thrill  that 
leaps  from  a  good  ghost  story. 

But  what  it  lacks  in  thrills.  Don  'i 
Go  Alone  makes  up  for  in  intricacy 
and  depth.  You  can  explore  for  hours 
and  hours.  You  make  progress,  so — 
once  you  realize  thai  success  isn't  rep- 
resented by  dramatic  victories — you 
don't  get  frustrated.  The  maze  is  quite 
involved,  with  one-way  doors  and 
camouflaged  secret  passages.  As  your 
characters  build  strength,  you'll  see 
them  improve  as  monster  killers. 

People  who  enjoy  role-playing 
games  a  lot  will  welcome  Accolade  to 
the  flock  of  software  companies  that 
produce  role-playing  adventures. 
Newcomers  to  the  role-playing  arena 
will  enjoy  the  game  because  the  graph- 


ics presentation  isn't  as  intimidaling 
as  the  text  adventures  of  the  old  days. 

Don 't  Go  Alone  suffers  from  a 
slow-moving  plot,  but  if  you're  con- 
tent with  just  exploring  the  house,  the 
adventure  will  come  to  you. 

HEIDI  E.  H,  .«COCK 


HE 


IBM  PC  and  compatibles— $39.95 

ACCOLADE 

550  S.  Winchester  Blvd. 

Suile  200 

San  Jose.  CA  951 28 

(408)  296-8400 


LAKERS  VERSUS 
lELTICS  AND 
NBA  PLAYOFFS 

Think  of  the  NBA  Playofis, 
and  the  Los  Angeles  Lak- 
ers and  Boston  Celtics 
usually  come  to  mind. 
That's  why  Electronic 
Arts  chose  to  higlilight 
these  two  teams  in  its  new- 
computer  basketball 
game,  Lakers  versus  Celt- 
ics  and  the  NBA  Playoffs. 
In  addition  to  the 
1988-89  Lakers  and  Celtics  clubs,  you 
can  choose  from  6  of  the  remaining  14 
teams  that  participated  in  last  spring's 
NBA  Playoffs  or  from  last  year's  two 
,A.11-Star  squads.  Match  up  any  of 
these  teams  in  a  head-to-head  arcade 
clash  and  try  to  make  your  way 
through  the  NB.A  Playoff  bracket  and 
become  World  Champion. 

This  five-on-five  game  features 
outstanding  graphics,  and  players  on 
every  team,  including  substitutes,  are 
displayed  in  detail  and  dressed  in  offi- 
cial team  colors  with  the  appropriate 
uniform  number.  Unlike  other  basket- 
ball games,  where  all  the  players  look 
alike.  Lakers  vs.  Celtics  features  sev- 
en-footers that  tower  over  shorter 
guards,  and  distinguishing  characteris- 
tics such  as  Kareem  .Abdul-Jabbar's 
and  James  Worthy's  goggles. 

The  animation  also  gets  high 
marks.  Kareem  actually  performs  sky 
hooks,  Isiah  Thomas  finger-rolls  the 
ball  into  the  hoop,  while  Michael 
Jordan  does  a  three-sixty  slam  down 
the  lane. 

.Although  the  game  looks  good, 
the  sound  is  less  spectacular.  Even 
though  the  game  supports  three  sound 
boards,  there's  no  crowd  noise,  and 
the  sound  of  the  ball  bouncing  around 
the  basket  sounds  unnatural.  The  only 
realistic  sound  effect  is  the  horn  end- 


ing each  period.  That's  not  much 
support. 

The  game  follows  official  rules, 
including  a  24-second  shot  clock,  10- 
second  backcourt  violations,  5-second 
inbound  violations,  overtime,  travel- 
ing calls,  backcourt  violations,  offen- 
sive and  defensive  fouls,  and  out-of- 
bounds  rulings. 

Game-control  options  are  simple. 
There  are  no  plays  to  call.  On  offense, 
you  can  dribble  in  any  direction,  pass 
to  a  teammate,  pump-fake  a  shot,  and 
shoot.  Defensively,  you  can  steal,  block 
a  shot,  and  switch  to  the  defender 
closest  to  the  ball.  A  joystick  is  recom- 
mended because,  when  you're  using 
the  keyboard,  you  can't  direct  your 
passes  to  a  particular  teammate. 

With  single  games,  you  can  com- 
pete in  either  the  arcade  or  the  simula- 
tion mode.  Tournament  games  are 
always  in  simulation  mode,  and  play- 
ers can  get  tired  in  this  mode.  You 
must  wisely  substitute  for  fatigued 
players  or  your  team's  performance 
will  suffer.  Substitutions  can  be  made 
only  during  timeouts  or  between 
periods. 

The  team  roster  screen  shows 
facts  such  as  each  player's  name. 
number,  and  statistics  from  the 
1988-89  season.  These  stats  are  used 
to  determine  how  well  each  player 
performs  in  the  game,  but  there  are  no 
current  stats  resulting  from  your 
gameplay.  There's  no  way  for  you  to 


Watch  the  five-on-five  battle  in  Lakers 
Versus  Celtics  and  the  NBA  Playoffs. 

know  how  many  points  Larr>'  Bird 
scored  or  how  many  rebounds  Jabbar 
pulled  down  unless  you  keep  the  stats 
yourself 

Some  other  minor  quirks  include 
the  facts  that  the  teams  never  change 
baskets  and  players  don't  foul  out.  But 
if  you  remember  that  this  is  an  arcade 
game  rather  than  a  simulation,  these 
facts  won't  affect  your  enjoyment. 

One  last  word  on  realism,  since 
these  teams  are  modeled  after  real 
teams.  The  1988-89  Lakers  did  have 
the  best  record  last  season,  but  they 
lost  the  title  to  Detroit.  Last  year's 
Boston  club  barely  qualified  for  post- 


104 


COMPUTE! 


FEBRUARY       1990 


Great  Software 

Micro  Star  has  been  selling  shareware  for  IBM  and  compatible  computers  since 

1986,  longer  than  anv  other  companv  in  this  magazine,  And  we  offer  the  best 

prices  with  prompt  delivery.  Others  say  "World's  Best  Shareware"  yet  include 

lemons  like  Jet  Set,  City  Desl<  and  Mr,  Bill.  But  our  technicians  have  carefully  chosen 

the  best  software  available.  Try  us  and  seel  GUARANTEED  NO  LEMONS! 


STRIKER  (110)  Fly  helicopter 
ogalnst  enemy  (CGA) 
TWO  BIT  POKER  V2.0   (172) 
Just  like  the  casino  poker 
machines  in  Vegos  (CGA) 
STARIORD   (GAM95)    Play 
Star  Trek  on  your  PC  (CGA) 
DND  vl.Z  (119)  Like  Dun- 
geons and  Dragons 
ROUND  42  (120)  Like  Space 
Invaders.  42  levels  (CGA) 
MONOPOLY    (169)    Great 
color  and  sound  (CGA) 
BRIDGEPAl(171)Controct 
Of  rubber  bridge,  w/tutorial. 
SPACEWAR    (158)    Using 
pnasers,  photon  torpedoes. 
WHEEL  OF  MISFORTUNE  (181) 
Spin  wheel  and  watch  out! 
PC-JIGSAW  vl.1  {GAM71) 
Beautiful  computer  jigsaw 
puzzles.  Color  or  mono. 
DRACULA  IN  LONDON  (GAM 
94)  Great  graphics  gome 
based  on  novel  (CGA) 


EAT  'EM  II  (SAM  74)  Like  Pac 
Man  but  with  a  bigger  field 
KID-GAMES  (GAMS)  Math, 
clock,  alphabet,  etc.  (CGA) 
EGA  RISK  (GAM11)  World 
domination  in  greot  color. 
With  EGA  Asteroids  (EGA) 
NETHACK  (GAM20)  Adven- 
ture game.  Many  danger- 
ous levels,  rooms,  corridors 
PC-GAMMON  {GAM33)  Easy 
to  learn,  yet  challenging. 
MORAFPS  REVENGE  (GAMi6) 
Adventure  with  castles,  dun- 
geons, maps,  monsters! 
SCRABBLE  (GAM  72)  Exact 
rendition  of  the  all  time 
favoflte  (EGA) 
CRIBBAGE  PARTNER  (GAM98) 
The  complete  boord  gome! 
CHESS  (GAM9)  Incredible. 
2D  and  3D-  Rayback  moves, 
store  games,  etc.  (CGA) 


CADDIEHACK    EGA    GOLF 
(GAM1 00)  Best  18-hole  share- 
ware golf  game  oroundl 
CGAver.  isGAMIOI  (EGA) 
SOLICARD  (GAM  106)  Eight 
great  solitaire  card  games 
BLACKJACKI   v1.5   {GAM47) 
Professional-  Superb  gro- 
phics  (fvlono  or  EGA) 
PAS  TRIVIA  V3,02  (GAM114) 
Family  oriented  trivia  gome 
for  up  to  6  plQyers- 
KINGDOM  OF  KROZ  (GAMS) 
Arcade,   adventure,  and 
strotegy  game  with  25  levels. 


CROSSWORD  CREATOR  (GAM 
108)  Shoreware's  finest  cross- 
word puzzle  generoto/! 
SHARP  SHOOTER  (GAM84) 

Tank  vs.  tank  warfare  game. 
Up  to  eight  players  (CGA) 
MAH    JONGG    (GAM103) 

High  tech  simulation.  CGA 
and  VGA  version  included 


PROGRAMMING 


WINDOW  PRO  (1613,  1614/2 
disks)  Create  windows  and 
titles  for  menus,  etc. 
PC-BASIC    PRIMER    (162S) 
Learn  BASIC  in  a  very  color- 
ful way  (CGA,  BASIC), 
PERSONAL  C  COMPILER  v1.2 
(1627)   Learn  the  C  lan- 
guage (2  FD  or  HD) 
A86-D86  (1 707, 1 709/2dlSla) 
World's  best  assembler,  dis- 
assembler program. 


WOOD  PROCESSING 


WORDS  8i  EDITS  (TXT2)  Full- 
screen text  editor  fOf  ASCII- 
PC-WRITE  v3,02  (434-436/3 
disks)  Very  popula,r.  With 
spell  checker  (2  FD  or  HD) 
GALA)(Y  V2,42  (407)  Easy  to 
use.  tJouse.  EGA  support- 
PC-WRITE  MACROS  v1.2  (458) 
100  commands  (or  PC-Write. 


COMPOSER  (313)  Create, 
edit  and  play  music.  (CGA) 
CHRISTMAS  SONGS  (311) 

Collection  ol  your  favorites. 


PROFESSIONAL  MASTERKEY 
v3.0  (2805)  Like  Norton's. 
Retrieve  deleted  files.  A  life- 
saver  (2  FDorHD) 
TECHSTAFF  TOOLS  (3068-3069 
/Zdtsks)  13  utilities  no  com- 
puter should  be  without! 
SCREENSAVER  vl.05  (UTL21) 
Save  monitor  from  burn-in. 
For  oil  video  displays. 
DBS-KAT  (UTL  30)  Catalog 
your  floppy  disks  (HD) 
BRADFORD  v2.0  (2729)  Beau- 
tiful fonts  for  your  dot  matrix. 
PAS   MASTER   MENU   v1.02 
(UTL33)  Interface  for  multi- 
ple user  passwords.  (HD) 


TUTOR.COM  v44  ( 1 301 )  Inter- 
active DOS  tutorial 
HELPDOS  vj.O  (1326)  On- 
line DOS  help  with  menus. 
Includes  DOS  dictionarv  of 
terms  and  a  hints  menu, 
HARD  DISK  MENU  IV  (1332) 
Organize  HDfor  speed,  ease 
of  use  Password  protection. 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  184 


STILL  RIVER  SHELL  V2.58  (1304) 

Run  DOS  commands  from 
menu.  Makes  DOS  easy. 


MIND  CHART  (GRA37-GRA38/ 

2  disks)  Menu  charting  and 
drawing  programs. 
SIMCGA/HGClflM  (1027, 
1062/2  disks)  Use  with  Her- 
cules graphics  card/com- 
patible to  run  CGA  pro- 
grams on  your  monochrome. 
IMAGE-3D  (1048)  Create, 
edit  3-D  objects.  Move, 
scale,  rotate  image  (CGA), 
FINGER  PAINT  V2.00  (1050) 
Use  keyboard  or  mouse  to 
draw  Like  tvlacPAWT  (CGA) 
DRAFT  CHOICE  (GRA6)  Excel- 
lent menu-driven  CAD  pro- 
gram. Mouse  support. 


I 


,m\\\\\\\V7 


CHARTS  UNLIMITED  {GRA16) 

Complete  system  for  flow 
charts:  organizotlonai,  elec- 
tricol.  etc.,  with  symbols. 


SPREADSHEETS 


AS-EASY-AS  (505)  Has  screen 
help  menus  A  Lotus  clone 
that  reads  Lotus  files- 
PC-CALC+  Vl.O  (512-514/3 
disks)  Jim  Button's  famous 
Lotus  clone  (2  FDorHD) 
PIVOT  vl.01  (516)  Prints  Lotus 
or  As-Easy-As  files  sideways. 


ACCOUNTING/FINANCE 


MARKETCeAv2.3(BUS17) 

Analysis  on  stocks,  funds, 
etc.  EGAver,  Is  BUS  16  (CGA) 
AMORTIZE  (BUS113)  iCalcu- 
late.  print  loan  amortization 
schedules. 

TICKLEX  (BUS62)  Appoint- 
ment calendar  with  re- 
minder, alarm,  timetable, 
etc.  (HD) 

MEDLIN  ACCOUNTING  (757) 
G/L.  A/P.  A/R  and  payroll. 
EXPRESS  CHECK  v2.06  (784) 
Checking  account  with  run- 
ning balance,  monthly  re- 
ports, etc.  Prints  checks. 
FINANCE  MANAGER  II  G/L 
vl.3  (751)  Personal  or  small 
business  {2  FDorHD) 


APPLICATIONS 


FOOTBALL  FUN  (MIS1)  tvlan- 
age  an  office  football  pool. 
LOGITI  (UTL27)  RAM  resident 
computer  logging  program. 
THE  NUTRITIONIST  (2334) 
Evaluates  foods,  meals  and 
recipes  for  nutrition,  etc. 
EZ-FORMS  (1 909)  Make  forms 
to  meet  different  needs. 
CATALIST  (2059,  2064/2 
disks)  Moiling  list  manager. 
Prints  labels,  repxDtts. 


NOTE  Minimum  program  roauirements  are  in  parentheses  at 
the  end  of  descriptions.  FD  floppy  drive.  HD  hard  drive. 
CGA  at  laost  CGA  or  better  (lor  example.  EGA  or  VGA). 


FAMILY  TREE  (2201)  Create 

files,  genealogicol  reports, 
LOnO  PROPHET  v2.7  (2344) 
Best  lotto  program  around. 
PC-DESKIEAM  (2603)   Desk- 
top organizer.  Many  features! 


TEL£COMMUNICATIONS 


TELIX  V3,11  (1161-1162/2 
disks)  Total  package.  Sup- 
ports baud  rate  to  115,200 
(modem,  2  FDorHD) 
WILDCATI  ¥1,03  (1141, 1143/ 
2  disks)  Flexible  bulletin 
board  system  (modem,  HD) 
PfiOCOMM  vi43  (1 159)  Out- 
sfonding  modem  soflv/are. 


SECURITY/ HACKING 


COPY  PROTECTION  IV  (1226) 

Latest  release.  For  advanced 
programmers  (2  FD  or  HD) 
FLU  SHOT+  vl.S  (1225)  Pro- 
tection against  viruses! 
VIRUS  STOPPER  v2.0  (1223) 
Protect  your  system  from 
viruses  and  trojan  horses. 


DATABASE  PROGRAMS 


PC-FILE:DB  (853-855/3  disks) 
Report-writer.  dBASE  111+ com- 
patible. (HO) 
FILE    EXPRESS    (803-804/2 

disks)  Powerful  system. 
Allows  32.000  records.  Sorts 
up  to  10  fields  (2  FD  or  HD) 


BIBIEMEN  (3330)  Excellent 
Bible  quiz  program. 
BIBLEWORKS  (3356-3361/6 
disks)  Bible  with  concord- 
ance, allows  editing.  Old 
and  new  testomenfs  (2  FD 
orHD) 


THE  WORLD  (235)  Shows  and 
prints  maps  in  all  locotions 
of  the  world 

AMY'S  FIRST  PRIMER  (248) 
Game  that  teoches  letters, 
numbers,  keyboard  (CGA) 
FACTS  50  (239)  Geography 
lessons  for  U.S  (BASIC). 


PC  FASTYPE  V3.01  (241)  Touch 
typing  instruction  with  WPM, 
accuracy,  etc,  (CGA) 
SPANISH  I  a  II  (211.  232/2 
disks)  Great  tutorial  (BASIC) 
MATH  CASTLE  (EDU  18}  Save 
castle  from  ollens  by  solving 
math  riddlesi  Fun! 


Micro  Star 


ORDER  FORM 

PLEASE  PRINT  DISK  NUMBERS 


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ZIP 

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NOTE:  2  DISK  SETS  ARE  2  X  (PRICE) 
SOFTWARE  ON  iS"  DISKS  ADD  S1.00  EACH 

CALIF.  RESIDENTS  ADD  6%  TAX  =  

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800-444-1343  "Sr? 

Service 
7  ann  lo  5  pm  PST  Monday  •  Saturday  (619)  436-0493 


season  play.  If  EA  wants  to  play  up 
the  rivalry  between  the  two  teams,  it 
should  release  some  disks  with  great 
teams  of  the  past.  Watching  Bill  Rus- 
sell and  John  Haviicek  do  battle  with 
Wilt  Chamberlain  and  Jerry  West 
would  really  appeal  to  computer 
roundball  fans  and  rnake  a  rousing, 
in-your-face  dunk  of  a  sequel. 

MICKEY  MCLEAN 


IBM  PC  and  compatlMes— $49.95 

ELECTRONIC  ARTS 
1820  Gateway  Dr. 
San  Mateo,  CA  94404 
(800)245-4525 


DAVID  WDIF: 
SEGDET  AGENT 

Game  players  get  a  peek 
into  the  future  of  com- 
puter games  with  David 
Wolf:  Secret  Agent.  Billed 
as  an  interactive  movie, 
this  spy  adventure  has  the 
look  and  feel  of  a  James 
Bond  film,  from  opening 
titles  to  closing  credits.  In 
fact,  it  lacks  only  the 
Bond  music  to  complete 
the  mood. 

The  plot  is  developed  by  a  series 
of  still-frame  digitized  images  rather 
than  by  computer-drawn  cartoon- 
style  characters.  Real  actors,  cos- 
tumes, and  sets  were  used  to  create 
the  images,  and  cinematic  techniques 
such  as  cuts  and  fades  help  bring  them 
to  life.  The  EGA  graphics  offer  rich 
detail  and  texture. 

The  story  opens  on  the  cliffs  of 
Dover  as  David  Wolf,  agent  for  Pere- 
grine, an  international  crime-fighting 
organization,  tests  an  armed  hang 
glider.  He's  immediately  pounced  on 
by  hang-gliding  Viper  bad  guys,  and 
the  fight  is  on.  Once  the  action  starts, 
you're  in  control  of  the  hang  glider, 
and  it's  up  to  you  to  win  the  sky 
battle. 

This  is  the  first  of  six  mini  simu- 
lation games  that  pop  up  from  time  to 
time.  All  done  in  polygon-filled  graph- 
ics, the  games  are  easy  to  learn  but  a 
little  jerky  at  10  MHz.  And  although 
the  graphics  are  good  vector  graphics, 
they  look  primitive  between  the  digi- 
tized photos. 

If  Wolf  survives  the  glider  scene, 
he'll  be  assigned  to  recover  a  top- 
secret  stealth  aircraft,  which  a  defect- 
ing pilot  has  delivered  to  Viper.  In 
any  spy  adventure,  there  has  to  be  a 
beautiful  girl.  Missing  along  with  the 


plane  is  the  brilliant  and  gorgeous  Dr. 
Kelly  O'Neal,  chief  engineer  for  the  S- 
2  project. 

Wolfs  pursuit  of  the  S-2  (and  Dr. 
O'Neal)  lakes  him  through  a  couple  of 
car  chases  near  Monte  Carlo,  where, 
again,  you're  given  control  of  the  ve- 
hicle. This  is  followed  by  a  well-done 
free  fall-and-parachute  sequence  and 
finally  by  the  big  stealth-fighter  dog- 
fight at  the  end. 

Dynamix  has  gone  out  of  its  way 
to  make  things  easy  for  the  player.  Its 
Smart  Start  system  automatically  sets 
the  game  to  match  your  computer  at 
the  beginning  so  you  don't  have  to  an- 
swer a  long  list  of  questions  about 
your  graphics,  sound  cards,  joysticks, 
and  disk  drives.  And  the  VCR-style 
interface  lets  you  fast-forward  through 
parts  of  the  game  or  skip  parts  you've 
already  completed.  It  also  lets  you  ad- 
just the  level  of  difficulty  at  any  time 
during  play. 

The  game  has  a  lot  going  for  it, 
but  it  has  some  problems  that  can't  be 
ignored.  First,  its  movielike  quality 
works  against  it:  Most  of  the  time  you 
just  sit  there  watching  pretty  screens 
and  dialogue  go  by,  Except  during  the 
simulation  scenes,  there's  no  interac- 
tion with  the  game.  Because  of  this 
passive  stance,  you  never  get  that  "re- 
ality shift";  you  never  feel  like  vou  are 
David  Wolf 

Second,  it  doesn't  last  long 
enough.  I  played  the  entire  game,  in- 
cluding some  of  the  simulation  se- 
quences several  times,  in  a  just  over 
two  hours.  I  applaud  Activision  for 


trol  over  the  character  and  have  a 
more  entertaining  plot,  I'll  be  first  in 
line  to  buy  them. 


RICHARDSHEFFIELD 


Pilot  your  hang  glider  and  shoot  down 
the  Vipers  in  David  Wolf:  Secret  Agent. 

not  punishing  the  user  by  killing  off 
the  character  every  five  minutes  and 
requiring  you  to  put  in  50  hours  of 
game  time.  But  2-3  hours  is  just  too 
short,  especially  considering  the 
$49.95  price  tag. 

Dynamix  certainly  is  on  the  right 
track,  but  this  look  at  the  future  is  just 
that — a  hint  of  things  to  come.  Game 
players  are  looking  for  more  substance 
behind  the  flashy  graphics.  But  if  fu- 
ture Dynamix  releases  offer  more  con- 


IBM  PC  and  compatibles— $49,95 

DCNAMIX 

Distributed  by  Activision 
3885  Bohannon  Dr. 
Menlo  Park.  CA  94025 
(415)329-0800 


GDAVE  YADDAGE 


A  division's  Grave  Yardage 
represents  what  would 
have  happened  if  Boris 
Karloff  had  been  named 
commissioner  of  the 
NFL.  Instead  of  brawny 
linemen,  fleet-footed  re- 
ceivers, and  crafty  quar- 
terbacks in  the  National 
Football  League,  you'll 
command  a  lineup  of 
ghouls,  ogres,  zombies,  gargoyles,  and 
goblins  in  the  Monster  Football  League. 
The  MFL  plays  on  fields  that  are 
more  hazardous  than  Astroturf  In  ad- 
dition to  mud  and  weeds,  land  mines 
plague  your  players.  If  one  of  your 
grim  grid  warriors  triggers  an  explo- 
sion, the  demonic  ref  slaps  your  team 
with  a  penalty  for  littering  the  field 
with  body  parts. 

The  game  resembles  football, 
with  a  few  gruesome  twists.  Touch- 
downs are  called  smashdowns,  but 
crossing  the  goal  line  is  not  enough  to 
win  the  game.  You  must  "ace"  your 
opponents  on  a  regular  basis  by  hack- 
ing, smashing,  gouging,  and  eventual- 
ly killing  them.  Hit  the  quarterback 
for  a  loss  of  snargs  and  you'll  pick  up 
more  points. 

Grave  Yardage  is  an  excellent  ar- 
cade game,  but  features  such  as  play 
calling  and  substitutions  tend  to  slow 
down  the  pace.  Other  unnecessary 
parts  of  the  game  include  the  team 
construction,  playbook  design,  and 
field  design  options.  But,  if  you're 
bored  with  sports  simulations  that  im- 
itate the  pros  on  television  and  you 
enjoy  carnage  more  than  a  good  clean 
hit,  then  Grave  Yardage  is  the  football 
game  for  you. 

MICKEY  McLEAN 


Commodore  64/128— $24.95 

IBM  PC  and  compatibles  witti  S12K  and 

cdor  monitor — S34.95 

ACTIVISION 

Distributed  by  Mediagenic 

P.O.  Box  3048 

Memo  Park,  CA  94025 

(415)329-0800  > 


106       COMPUTE! 


F    E 


RUARV       1990 


ESTABLISHED  1967 


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Kgytnad  .  e40K  RAM  ■  KW  Mjncpacssau  <  t.ZMB 
FtofprDliye-  t?Hwib<  ■  ktSDOSSSiawBue 
Wordprocdsair>g ,  DaUssa  S  SpreoJshaet  ScftwMe 

$969 

EPSON  EQUITY  1e $54S 

EPSON  EQUITY  38S-20. $2299 

/ISr266 

IBMATCompellble 

51 2K  RAM  EipandsUa  b  4MB  ■  80286 
htacprDcessa'SeriaLFara]^  Pala 
>t.2htBFk>ppy  •   Wndpioceewvg,  Dan- 
|H»,  1  SpiHdi^aetSalMara 


MONITORS 
MagnavOX  EGA  Mon-.,$309,95 
UaonavoxEGAMonhor 

SEGACard $419.95 

Magnawi  VGA  Mon-.-S349-95 
Magnavox  VGA  Monitor 

SVGACard $489.95 

NEC  Multisync IIA $489.95 

NECMulisynclllD $609,95 


$779 


AST  PRemiUM  186  MODEL  70. ™ JIW 

ASTPREmUMimWDELSO. JOH 

ASTPR£WUM!S6  MODEL  1 40X _ ..,.|l«4« 

ASTPHEmVU3SeSXklODEL5.-.„ KW 

ALLOmERASTUODELS.^ CALl 

Panas<3ntc  Fxieso 

IBM  XT  Compallblt  PkQ. 


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M0l(-72MFlg)wO(rf« 


•ParaltaJSerial.  . 
3  3  <  GW  But 


MS  DOS 
12'Uanila 


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$1899 


*  Word  PiowMirw  ,  Dafitase  i 
Spri^shut  Soltw4« 

$499 

PANASONIC  fX- 1 7M  W/X28S  PROCESSOR. 
PANASONICPX-IBSOIHi-llUHli. 

PANASONIC  FX-lS0Ot3S6-SX} 

PANASONICFX-)9S0l336-Z)UHt.l. 


wisi-'-'-mSF' 


rcfutnauihMuabonnumbcrwreiurnswirnollKacccpledJBrinATareregtslftCiriiadtfflaiksoIlnicfnatior^  AM  orders 

an  be  ^if^  All  Eipicss.  Call  Tor  dclatls.  For  voih  polcclioa  ihc  chcch  tot  acdH  cjrd  trwh  D  C  A  1800233 


LIGEHGE  TO  KILL 

Bond  movies  beg  for  trans- 
lation into  computer 
games.  James  Bond's 
name  conjures  up  visions 
of  fantastic  car  chases,  to- 
tally impossible  escapes, 
great-looking  women,  and 
dry  martinis.  Broderbund 
software  has  come  out 
with  a  game  that  attempts 
to  flesh  out  the  vision. 
Based  on,  and  named  after,  Bond's 
most  recent  film.  Licence  to  Kill,  the 
game  lakes  six  scenes  from  the  movie 
and  puts  you  in  the  position  of  our 
hero  in  this  arcade-style  offering. 
Your  mission  is  to  catch  Sanchez. 

The  first  scene  has  Bond  and  his 
CIA  counterpart,  Felix  Leiter,  chasing 
the  evil  Sanchez  in  a  helicopter.  With 
Sanchez  racing  off  in  a  jeep,  you  must 
maneuver  past  varyingly  tall  obsta- 
cles, dodge  gun  emplacements  and  try 
to  prevent  Sanchez's  escape.  To  help 
you  do  this,  there  are  control  panels 
describing  the  amount  of  damage 
your  chopper  has  taken  and  your  cur- 
rent altitude.  The  joystick  controls 
your  direction,  altitude,  and  speed; 
and  it  fires  your  gun. 

Next,  Bond  is  chasing  after  our 
villain  on  foot.  You're  given  a  finite 
number  of  bullets  (although  you  can 
get  more),  and  you  must  dodge  explo- 
sions and  ambushes.  Graphically  and 
strategically  the  most  interesting  of  all 
the  scenes  provided,  this  situation  de- 
mands thought  and  inventiveness. 

Scene  3  sends  us  back  into  the  air 
as  Bond  tries  to  jump  from  his  plane 
to  Sanchez's.  This  setting  becomes  a 
mere  exercise  of  coordination,  as  you 
must  time  your  jump  perfectly  before 
time  expires  and  Sanchez  leaves  U.S. 
territory. 

Scene  4  features  our  intrepid  hero 
swimming  underwater  and  attempting 
to  interrupt  a  drop  by  drug  smugglers. 
You're  given  only  a  limited  amount  of 
oxygen,  and  slaying  under  is  the  only 
way  to  avoid  being  shot.  A  tough  one. 

In  scene  5,  Bond  shows  off  his 
water-skiing  skills  and  you  show  off 
your  reflex  skills  as  you  race  though 
all  kinds  of  obstacles,  trying  to  catch 
you-know-who.  If  you  have  played 
any  of  the  popular  race  games,  this 
scene  will  hold  few  surprises. 

The  final  scene  requires  comple- 
tion of  two  separate  actions.  The  first 
is  to  successfully  drop  from  a  plane  to 
a  truck.  The  second  is  to  drive  the 
truck,  destroying  tankers  as  you  go, 
until  you  finally  stop  Sanchez  in  the 
lead  tanker. 

The  hardware  requirements  nec- 


essary to  play  Licence  to  Kill  are  EGA, 
CGA,  or  Hercules  capability  and 
512K  of  memory.  This  allows  practi- 
cally anybody  to  play  the  game,  but 
the  question  is  would  anyone  want  to? 

There  are  several  problems  thai 
make  this  game  ultimately  unsatisfy- 
ing. One  is  the  lack  of  documentation. 
There  are  literally  more  words  in  this 
review  than  there  are  in  the  manual. 
The  game's  instructions  tell  you  only 
what  ihc  joystick  does  and  what  the 
situation  is,  and  then  it  lets  you  go  at 
it.  It  doesn't  explain  the  symbols  on 
the  control-panel  menu,  how  to  win 
or  lose,  or  what  the  symbols  on  the 
map  mean.  At  the  least,  I  would  ex- 
pect a  demo  game.  I  might  have  been 
able  to  figure  the  mechanics  while 
watching  the  computer  play.  Starting 
with  such  limited  knowledge  de- 
creases the  game's  pleasure  and 
playability. 

Another  major  fault  is  the  matter 
of  subject  interest.  Essentially,  this 
game  is  six  different  arcade  games  in 
one  package.  But  the  differentiation 
between  one  scene  and  another  is  so 
slight  as  to  suggest  not  six  different 
games  but  one  game  six  times. 

On  the  plus  side,  the  graphics  are 
truly  terrific,  especially  in  EGA.  Un- 
fortunately, that's  too  little  to  earn  a 
recommendation.  I  expect  a  lot  more 
from  a  game  that  carries  the  name  of 
James  Bond.  This  is  one  package  I 
wish  I  had  a  license  to  stop. 

ADAM  STARKWEATHER 


Amiga— $34.95 
Atari  ST— S34.95 
Commodore  64/128— $29.95 
IBM  PC  and  compatibles— $34.95 

BR0DERBUND 

17  Paul  Dr. 

San  Rafael.  CA  94903-2101 

(415)492-3200 


Recommended  for  mature 
audiences.  That  warning 
on  the  Bar  Games  box 
should  ensure  plenty  of 
sales  for  Accolade,  but 
this  collection  of  five  clas- 
sic bar  games  should  sell 
on  its  own  merit.  It's  fun, 
varied,  and  has  a  sense  of 
humor. 
Liar's  Dice  pits  you 
one-on-one  with  a  beautiful  barmaid. 
Guess  the  best  hand  that  combines 
your  dice  with  hers,  and  then  try  to 
bluff  her  into  thinking  your  hand  is 
belter  than  it  is.  I  never  understood 
this  game  in  real  life,  and  it's  just  as 
confusing  here. 


In  Air  Hockey  my  paddle  seemed 
a  little  sluggish,  but  the  first  opponent 
was  a  pushover.  Win  two  out  of  three 
games  and  advance  to  a  tougher  oppo- 
nent. Graphics  in  this  game  are  great, 
and  so  are  the  women  opponents. 
Male  opponents  may  be  handsome, 
but  I  never  noticed. 

As  the  bartender  in  Last  Call,  you 
slide  frosty  mugs  of  beer  down  the  bar 
to  thirsty  customers.  Use  a  power 
gauge  to  determine  how  much  force  to 
put  behind  each  slide. 

Wei  'N  Wild  is  a  wet  T-shirt  con- 
test. The  wetter  the  shirt,  the  more  it 
reveals.  Contestants  wander  across  a 
stage,  and  you  try  to  douse  them  with 
buckets  of  water  from  a  catwalk 
above.  It  gets  tougher  and  zanier  as 
the  contest  progresses.  Did  I  mention 
there  are  male  contestants,  too? 

Brush  off  your  opening  lines  in 
Pick-Up  Artist.  You  have  to  deter- 
mine which  line  works  best  on  three 
beautiful  women,  and  one  has  her  eye 
on  you.  Use  the  wrong  line  on  the 
wrong  girl  and  she'll  melt  you  faster 
than  a  snowball  melts  in  San  Diego. 

Plenty  of  varied  action  in  this 
one.  Play  for  five  minutes  or  five 
hours.  Bar  Games  is  different  each 
time. 

TOM  NETSEL 


IBM  PC  and  compatibles,  512K  EGA  or 
Tandy  16-color.  384K  Hercules  or 
MGA— S39.95 

ACCOLADE 

550  S.Winchester  Blvd. 

Suite  200 

San  Jose,  CA95128 

(408)  935-1700 

THE  PUZZLE 
STORYBOOK 

Zug,  that  lovable,  huggable 
monster,  is  back  in  First 
^yxe%  The  Puzzle  Story- 
book. This  time,  he's  here 
to  teach  kids  about 
shapes,  encourage  them 
to  write  stories,  and 
tempt  them  to  do  puzzles. 
The  Puzzle  Story- 
book is  designed  to  appeal 
to  children  between  ages 
3  and  8.  The  graphics  are  bold,  the 
colors  are  bright,  and  the  menus  use  a 
combination  of  words  and  pictures  to 
make  it  easy  for  even  nonreaders  to 
understand  how  to  get  around  the 
program. 

Kids  can  choose  from  three  activ- 
ities: Picture,  Puzzle,  and  Story.  The 
Picture  option  lets  children  create  a 
series  of  storybook  pictures.  They  can 


108 


COMPUTE! 


FEBRUARY       1990 


add  a  background,  a  person,  a  moving 
object,  and  a  building  to  each  scene. 
They  can  print  the  picture  or  use  the 
Keep  option  to  save  the  picture  in  the 
library  on  the  program  disk. 

The  Puzzle  Game  is  actually  two 
difFerent  games.  Shapes  and  Tiles. 
The  Shapes  Puzzle  asks  you  to  identi- 
fy six  basic  shapes:  oval,  circle,  trian- 
gle, parallelogram,  rectangle,  and 
square.  The  Tiles  Puzzle  divides  the 
picture  into  large  blocks  which  are 
shuffled  onscreen.  The  goal  is  to  un- 
scramble the  image  one  piece  at  a 
time,  trying  not  to  make  any  mistakes. 

My  favorite  part  of  Puzzle  Story- 
book is  the  Story  activity.  Start  by  cre- 
ating a  new  picture  or  choosing  one 
from  the  library.  The  right  side  of  the 
screen  then  changes  into  a  talking 
word  processor.  Depending  on  the  set- 
tings selected  in  the  Helper  Control 
Panel,  the  computer  reads  back  your 
youngster's  work  either  letter  by  letter, 
word  by  word,  or  sentgnce  by  sen- 
tence. By  selecting  the  Radio  icon, 
you  can  hear  the  whole  story  read  re- 
peatedly, either  for  enjoyment  or  to 
make  corrections  with  the  phonic 
clues  provided. 

When  you  finish  a  story,  you  can 
add  it  to  the  library,  print  it  out  for 
bedtime  enjoyment,  or  have  the  com- 
puter read  it  out  loud  just  for  the  fun 


of  hearing  it  talk. 

The  speech  quality  in  the  Puzzle 
Storybook  is  excellent.  In  addition  to 
the  speech  generator,  there  is  a  phonic 
dictionary  of  frequently  used  words 
and  an  editor  to  make  manual  correc- 
tions to  special  words,  such  as  the 
names  of  friends  and  pets.  Attentive 
youngsters  will  quickly  learn  how  to 
correct  their  work  independently,  just 
by  listening  for  words  that  don't 
sound  quite  right. 


Kids  can  create  a  series  of  storybook 
pictures  with  The  Puzzle  Storybook. 

The  program  does  have  some 
frustrating  features.  Even  with  all  the 
images  supplied  with  the  program,  the 
pictures  you  create  quickly  begin  to 
look  very  similar.  To  add  to  the  irrita- 
tion, pieces  can  only  be  put  in  preset 
locations,  which  severely  limits  story- 


creation  possibilities.  Printing  rou- 
tines are  similarly  limited;  pictures 
and  stories  can  be  printed  in  only  one 
size,  and  it's  impossible  to  predict 
how  the  page  layout  will  come  out. 

While  all  the  youngsters  I  let 
work  with  the  program  loved  creating 
pictures  and  writing  stories,  the  Puz- 
zle section  was  less  well  received.  Nei- 
ther the  Tiles  game  nor  the  Shapes 
game  keeps  records,  and  Zug's  reac- 
tion is  independent  of  the  effort  re- 
quired in  both  games.  Additional 
challenge  in  this  section  would  have 
definitely  improved  the  program. 

Overall,  The  Puzzle  Storybook 
succeeds  with  children  because  it  ap- 
peals to  their  sense  of  fun,  and  it 
works  well  because  the  choices  make 
sense  to  them. 

LESLEE  EISER 


Amiga— S39.95 

IBM  PC  and  compatibles  with  S12K— 

S39.95 

(Covox  Speech  Thing  cr  Tandy  1 000 

sound  chip  needed  for  voice  on  PC) 

Macintosh— S39.95 

FIRST  BYTE 

3100  S.  Harbor  Blvd. 

Suite!  SO 

Santa  Ana,  CA  92704 

(800)  523-8070 

(714)432-1740 


This  is  as  low  as  fax  gets:  $195 


S195  9600-bps  fax  board  for  your  PC! 
Wowt 

You  wan(  lo  get  fa.xing,  right?  Well,  you've 
conic  to  the  right  ad.  If  v'ou've  got  a  PC  with 
an  empty  half  slot,  you'll  want  to  pick  up  the 
phone  right  now  and  get  your  order  in  for  the 
new  Frecom  FAX96.  It's  only  SI95  plus  lax 
and  .shipping,  but  supplies  are  limited  and 
you'll  want  to  act  last. 

The  Frecom  !-AX9fi  gives  you  high  speed 
9600  bps  perfomiaiice  and  is  fully  compatible 
with  all  standalone  Group  III  fax  inachines.  It's 
new,  and  cuts  no  comers.  li  will  even  receive 
faxes  without  interrupting  you  while  you're 


"A  liille  liiiaiil.  A  Ini 
oficcluiiili^jiy.  Ami  a 
low  !>riti'  tliircl  to  yim. 
Miiiiey-lxick  f^iiarauwc. 
Give  il  a  shot!" 


working  on  your  PC.  Of  course,  at  that  price 
you  don't  get  a  voice  answering  machine  or 
built-in  modem  or  gloriously  complicated 
menus. 

What  you  do  get  is  a  way  to  send  a  fax 
whenever  you  need  to  gel  a  message  out  in  a 
hurry  and  don't  want  to  go  stand  in  line  ai  Ilie 
nearest  fax  machine.  With  your  own  !-''kX9() 
board,  you  have  total  conlrol.  And  you  get  lo 
see  incoming  faxes  on  your  monitor  before  you 
prim  (or  junk)  !hem. 

Tlie  Frecom  R'\X96  has  automatic  redial,  in 
case  Ihc  fax  you're  calling  is  busy,  Your  $195 
purcha.sc  also  includes  very  simple  "push-lhe- 
button"  software  that  lives  up  to  Fremont 


Communicalions'  instant  ON  philosophy. 
In.slallation  is  a  snap;  our  installation  software 
guides  you  through  the  few  simple  setup  choic- 
es without  the  befuddlemenis  of  communica- 
tions jargon.  So  lo  start  faxing  from  your  PC. 
just  call,  have  your  VISA  or  MasterCard  ready, 
and  we'll  ship  you  a  Frecom  FA,X96  conipleie 
with  a  loo's  money-back  guarantee.  For  519.*)! 
That's  as  iow'  as  fax  gets. 

Order  phone:  415-438-5000 
Dealer  inquiries  41.5-438-5016 
FAX:  415-490-2315 


Kremonl 

Cninmunicaliiins 

Cumpany 

46309  Warm  Springs  Blvd, 
Fremont,  CA  94539 


FRECOM 


Paul  Masters.  I C  BLTkelo\'  SIHA  and  Northern  Telconv  alum,  is  President  of  Fremont  Communications 


Circle  Fleader  Service  Number  185 

FEBRUARY 


19    9    0 


C    O    M    P    U    T    E    I 


109 


ORDER  TODAY!! 


WMMARK  1-800-729-9000 


INTERNATIONAL,  INC. 


THE  "GREAT DEAL"  CATALOG 


TURBOSPORT  386 
PORTABLE  LAPTOP 
COMPUTER 

.  80366  32-bit  processor. 
12/6  MHz(switcli able). 

•  40  MB  (28ms)  hand  drive.  | 
•One  3,3"  1.4  MB  floppy 

disk  drive.  •  2  MB  RAM. 

•  100%  IBM  compatible. 
■  *Page-White"  (luorescent 

backlitLCD<iisplay,l0.5"  | 

viewmg  area. 

•MS-DOS  3.21  included-        _  _, 

■Suppods:MSOS;2  |  ^^^^mmm^^/ 

version  1.0. 'Xenix,  and 

also  Wrcrosoh  Windows.386  environments. 

•  Zero  wail  stale.  •  Socket  for  80337  numenc 
coprocessor.  •  Internal  Hayes  240D  Baud  modem. 

•  Serial  and  parallel  printer  ports. 

•  Resolution:  640  x  400  pixels. 

•  79-key  full  function  detactrable  fseyboard. 

•  Real  time  clock  and  calendar. 

•  "Fast"  charge  NiCad  battery  pack  included. 

•  AC  adapter.  -Dim.:  1 3.25-W  x  1 4.75"0  x  4.75"H. 
•Weight;  14.7  lbs.  ■  One  Year  Warranty! 

•  Factory  New     .,,     ^^ 
a  PerfectI  ^^'i-  S^Sg- 

l^^^  Retail 

..'386   "V    $8,499.00 
■*"  i    \ 

■  SrWeJ;^  Item  No.  6-1743-126686 

Insured  Ship'Hand.:  $19,00 


■  ■M..il:l!IJ:IMdl 

$2999 


gmarf/M^     Fax/Phone 
Auto  Switch 


'  No  interruption,  no  tone...  caller  never  knows  Smarimax 
is  directing  traffk:.  +  No  need  for  a  dedicated  lax  line. 

'  Fax^pEione  auloswEtch  albws  your  new  lax  share  any 
phone  line  you  already  have, 

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'  Single  switch  to  lock  out  either  voice  or  fax  calls. 

"  Front  panel  status  lights  indicate  every  modes  ot 
operation.  *  Smadmax  handles  power  outages  by 
automatically  switchfng  to  phoneonly  mode, 

'Allov^s  manual  override  if  you  wani  to  send  a  fax  to  the 
person  you're  talking  to  on  the  phone. 

'  24- HoLrr  customer  service  line.  Compare  At: 

■  Easy  ir^staliation.  •  UL  listed.  $245-00 

•  FCC  certified.  '  Compact  design.     ijnil.lijlJ.iijJi 
'  Made  USA.  *  Dim.:  4"  X  r  X  1-1/2'.l  iilliilJltJildilnTl 

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■  Model  #:  MX  1030. 

■  2  Year  Warranty!  » 

■  Factory  New!  H^ 
Factory  Perfect!  ^ 


«149 

Item  No.  B  1743  128934 
Insured  Ship'Hand.:  S7.00 


PACKAmBEll^ 

A,n\VTKt  ^ruw  up  fhlenin^  to  us,  (r  slift  dovs. 

PACKMATE  286  COMPUTER 
WITH  VGA  COLOR  MONITO^^ 

60286  MM-JM  ^S  p!M 

microprocessor  ^BJlBi^H    ^    \'T^    >i 

[Operates  at 
12  MHz). 

■  One  3-1/2" 
1 .44  MB  floppy 
drive. 

•  One  5-1/4" 
1.22  MB  floppy 
drive. 

■30  MB 
fiarrf  drive. 
'  1  MB  RAM  on  motherboard. 

■  Incfudes  VGA  14"  color  monitor 
4  VGA  card.  •  IBM  compatible.  •  AT  compatible. 

•  8  expansion  slots.  •  Dual  FDD.'HDD  controller. 

•  2  half  height  drive  cavities  exposed,  •  1  half  tieighi 
drive  cavity  enclosed.    •  2  serial  ports, 

•  1  parallel  port,  •  System  configuration  in  CMOS 
with  battery  back-up, 

■  101  key  ineyboard. 

■  Includes  MS  DOS  3.3  & 
GW  BASIC. 

'  145W  Universal  power 
supply. 

■  Socket  tor  80287 
co-processor  on 
molflerboard. 

■  One  Year  Warrantyl 
Factory  New  &  Perfectl 


Manufacturer's 

Suggested  Retail: 

$3,449.00 

«1499 

llemNo.  e-1743-132142 
Insured  Sfiip/Hand,:  S39.00  | 


LOGITECH 


ltemND.B'1743  131227 
Insured  Ship/Hand.:  $29.00 


■  Includes  9-25  pin  adapter. 

■  Exceeds  300  miles  in  a  lifetime- 

■  Serial  interlace  device. 

'  Two  fully  de bounced  control 
buttons. 
'  G  flexble  cable. 

■  UL  approved  FCC  class  B. 
'  Color:  Light  Gray. 
'Dim.:  rHX3.7-LX2.3"W. 
'  Weight:  2.9  oz.  {w'o  cable). 
■3  Year  Warranty! 

■  Factory  New  & 
Perfect  J 


M8  HIGH  RESOLUTION 
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■  High  resoluton:200 
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Mouse  compatible, 
fully  supports 
Microsoft  windows. 

■  Includes  Paint 
showpaint  program. 
Includes  dri\iers  and 
menu  software  lor 
popular  applications 
including  DOS. 
Framework. 
Symphony,  Super 
Calc  3/4,  Word  Perlecl, 
Wordstar. 

Compatible  with  IBM 
PC,  AT.  PS/2  &  100% 
compatible  systems. 


>> 


Coinpare  At: 

$69.00 
■.H.I.M=i;iJ.IMJ 

«29 

Item  No.  B-1743-126939 
Insured  Ship/Hand.:  SSOO 


letter  5.3  pgs.  per  min,  legal  4.5  ppm, 

Graphics  capable. 

LED  head'eleclTo-photography  printing. 

Three  IC  card  slots  tor  extra  fonts  and  emulations 

—over  100  available.  ■  300  x  300  dpi  resolulion 

Centronics  interlace.  •  RS232C  intertace. 

Three  Resident  fonts  included:  Courier  10,  Portraii 

a  Landscape.  '   Mfg.  Sugg.  Retail 

Dini:6.7'x16-x15.7-.  $2,555.00 

Wt  -  41  lbs  -  ,,,7,,Z,,,,il-^ 

Full  Warranty-  IVill'lfililiiailiaai 

45daysansggtit. 

10-1'2  mo.  through 

authorized  service  center. 

Factory  New  Item  No,  B  1 743-1 31 805 

3i  Perlecl!  Insured  Stiip.'Hand.:  S69.00  . 


$999 


FOR  FASTEST  SERVICE 
CALL  TOLL  FREE 

1-800-729-9000 

CUSTOMER  SERVICE:  1-612-566-4940 

NAME  


QTY 


DESCRIPTIOI^J 


ITEM# 


DELIVERY  TO  iQ  U  S  CONTINEMTAL  STATES  ONLY 


ADDRESS. 

CITY 

PHONE 


ST- 


ZIP. 


n  Check/Money  Order  QVISA    SIGNATURE- 
□  MasterCard    D  Discover     CARD  NO. 


J  RUSH  DELIVERIES 
'ff  I  ONLV  S6  95  p1u5  normal  SH,  L«* 
lor  lii«  plane  S  ask  yojr  operator  to 
'stiip  IT  Fa<]E» "  t>fllivery  Services', 


SUB  TOTAL 

in  MN  add  6%  Sales  Tax 

Total  S'H'I 

GRAND  TOTAL 


B-1743 


EXP. DATE. 


Send  To:  DAMARK  INTERNATIONAL,  INC.,  6707  Shingle  Creek  Parkway,  Minneapolis,  MN  55430 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  147 


DRainWare 

Your  Protection  for  Quality  Shoreware 


Oui*  Difference:    ■  Interaclive  mini-lijtoiiols  with  eoch 

program  (except  games) 

■  A  menu  of  commonds  for  stort/quit 
and  main  functions 

■  Library  of  over  400  programs 

■  Multiple  quDotir/  discounts 

■  ffigiiest  quality  dlslcs 


As      low      as      $1.20      /      disk! 


REIOI 

REtoa 

RE105 
REI06 
RlIO? 

REioe 

CADI  01 

CADI02 
CADI03 

UDia4 

CAoroi 

U0I07 
CADIH 

uaub 

HP101 


Real  If  tat« 


PniKeronRMlQvkk{l}V.3.0? 

SscI  EitD'e  kiirg  dcfcbasfi  that  anof^'MS  all  liie  6ata. 

Loan  Wnxrior  (1 ) 

Ui«  fco^ii  riid  c:id  ^-Oficte  rate  rrwrtgoges. 

Property  Maitager  V.  1.0 

H'M  Gi'D  HI  iBir  ard  irminteiicree  reCordi. 

AmortiialionToMc  (U 

(Gliu!ii!?5  Mr  jcvfTierjR,  ptirKippI  onri  iMei55T- 

WortPlwM} 

A  iiiijsiui;Tven  ptcgrarp  wlikh  performs  rafkws  amoiti- 

iOTOfi  f-jfiCiioni. 

Home  Findittuin  Anolysl  { \) 

SkI  KfaTE  evoljDtiar  for  tlie  (/(fipetlfve  bu^ef. 


GanMlogy 


HP107    nTf«(lJV,l,26 

HaniSn  up  Tq  90  buries  dI  One:  tinie. 
HPI09     Brotbr's  Keeper  (2) 

thorti  end  prinh  yoji  "Drikl/  tr&e. 


CAD/Paint 


PC  Draft  II  (1)V.  3.51 

Ihe  itiffit  cofiipleTe  CAD  pogfom,  laj  many  tuntrions  lo 

list. 

DroftOuriiell) 

A  Ijii.  obiHitetil  desjgn  t(»l.  ICC*  lequied) 

PC  Fbigei  Paiil  (1) 

Viffil  ywg^ir  crw  giophk  picgwn  of  its  yeai.    ICGA 

recuired] 

PC  Key  Draw  (3) 

fl  p<Me^l  end  vewfile  ^io  pitgrm  —  for  me- 

clicri([^  dfohirg  to  MJiKCtwi  to  tjitistk  iteiiy 

FlowClHrtliigtl) 

Dsigiwd  jgst  ibr  llw  Old  dgoti^oitral  thorn.  (CGA 

reqitfed). 

WwdP<ffKl5.(ICB])Art(S) 

Li'Mr  Vf'Citi  Perfect  d§i  ort  toJcction 

VGA  Pant  ID 

Itti  (3j  JS8  HI  B  248  (okH  CI  aite!  (VK  ranuieii) 

WorilPerftd  dip  Alt  12(1) 

A  {o^it^n  ct  ^ew  rrogft  fw  Wofij  PedKt 


Food  &  Kutritioii 


T1ieNiitr11iDci[t(1}V.3.0 

T.'ie  prDgicn  fm  total  ttiness,    (Hcid  drive  retom- 
mended). 
HP105     Whjlewater  Hutnliwi  Anitfyst  (1) 
Desigri  □  (fet  kr  oprifn-jn  niniTion. 


Astrology  &  Porsonal 


ABIOI     Astro  (3) 

I'ne  Total  oiwlcflical  piogiam  fa  rfiose  whs  bve  Etror 

og^.  [Hcd  Diik  wiiti  1  qi  2  floppies). 
A5I02     Siorhyehrm  (I) 

i'l  te  ir^DifTiGlion  ycu  iiBed  To  tokjlcte  bicjiiyllBns. 
ABID6     Stress  Test 

/i^dyze  v^^'  ^tess  !&veh  viittt  Itiii  easy  lo  jm  pfogi:n:j. 
AStOS     Aslrolojy  9.i 

F-i^ricJtTB  rpi-jired  wla'latioJK  lo  (wstoid  a  natol  (hnt. 

[256K  Rom,  CGA  ref;iii8[|). 


Word  ProcesMng/Tools 


WP10I     PC  Write  13]  V.  3.02 

Almffit  cs  good  K  Word  Perfttf  witfi  ^pell  (tieck.  138^  *! 
RofTi  lequired), 
WP1 05    Won!  PeHed  S.O  Tods  (1 }  V.  2.0 

['im  ciogtQfiK  fo  teaih  you  everythirg  yoi'B  need  to 

WP1I3   W«dPro»iiina  For  Kids  [1] 

Cb  !aen  Irom.  4  to  9  year^  o!  i^  enjoy  thfi  titrwiuctuxi 


Educalionol 


E104       The  World  (1)V.  2.09 

ienei  \\]m  an>  gbbe  yen)  coi  buy  (Cdik  lequiiedl. 
E107       Amy's  HritPrrmerlDV.  1.7 

Rib  peiini  [Hagium  lot  jiire-siliiHilers.   [(GA  requited}. 
El  09       PCFaity|iell|V.3.01 

A  piogmm  thfil  irdisd^  typirg  luior  aid  mony  drilb  b 

diifeiefii  skili  levels.  (CGA  reffjired). 
El  10       Whizquizdl 

Hie  u^tmia'e  elemertcry  rm!^  titot.    (CGA  requiied). 
Ell  I        BrandoR''s  Lunihbox  {]) 

Kids  3'/  will  benefit  gieatly  from  ttti5  lytotial  (CGS  re- 

CJlf^5dl. 
E119       High  SdiooE  Moth  (1} 

Fffj.(jrfi  ^DjT  high  iclioul  srjdsrt  foi  (oElege  rxsw. 
£120       Votubulary  Bu»de(  (4) 

liip'ove  ycur  SAI  crai  aCT  tc&res,  ■■■.■ini  7,500 voccbulGry 

were  J, 
E12I        Jopanese  for  Bviness  AadTtDveJ  {]] 

h  .TV.!  lot  b'j^:i>EH  rn/der  ta  the  orinl. 
E134       ABC  Fun  Keys  (1) 

^  '■:;r;._!  r-,  i  ■ij-nh^i  Icnring  piogt^wn  fc«  2-i  yea  oicfc. 
El 36        (oinpuler/DOS  Tutor  [1] 

l<i.-.-;.;    ;.:         : :  ir^  tuwcl  Iwd*  yw  dw  tosa 
EI39       NatiQiija[iheWoHd(1) 

t.  neo^ic-nove  ot  wgiid  gef^iopl^'ir  E^Hmdien,  Fran 

EntytbpGcte  ErtlQi)[Q. 
Et40       SdHoiMDiBd) 

Wcfh,  Oft,  nv5k  OTid  !{«ing  *0f  (!#»  414  yesrs 

cW. 


Iduiotional/Teathers 


EI22       Gfode  Guide  (2)  V.  3.00b 

[csy  wpy  to  stcwc,  f&triwe,  nn:l  aridY;e  students  grades. 
£125       PC0tniier(nV.2.1 

CAI  lesons  cm  be  cteoted  br  any  doss.  Con  rd/k 
coesfens  sfid  oiswers,  nuitple  dwice,  md  gtqihiu. 
(CGA  teqiitaf). 
£329       PCCAMD 

khm  you  la  (leote  vo>J<  -3wn  tuToiiok,  test^,  end 
cemoV 
E143       TfstMakerd) 

Cesign  miitiplc  Ehoi<e  lesl^  wil!i  iSiis  nieiiiu-drwen  pio- 
croin. 


UT110      Epson  Master  (1) 

Fq!  q;I  i\fm  wwi  vb  went  llie  (ustom  touch. 


Malb/Calculolort 


MCI  02    TurfaDCdnilatorn) 

TKa  on-5irgE!i  raiGjbloT  wth  7  tiemory  imd  9  stienlific 
fjnttions. 
MCI  03    CekplvMI) 

Fli  0  stieriiilic  toJcuto  tr  yoiff  computet  wilii  thb  pro- 

giom. 


UHlities 


UTI02     Auto  Menu  (1) 

lor  everyone  wiiHi  c  hard  diik  wlio  worll  Id  mo\c  it 
rasy. 
UTIOS     llieDaayDoienlU 

%ii  ton  dq  n]l  ^offs  ol  Hilngs^jr^as  KfKrMOver.  d'l- 

f«tory  5flrt,  ond  oltien, 
UT108     laplr}p  Bridged) 

lite  Honifef  bef^een  3  1/2  and  5 1/4  via  ports. 
UT1 1 5     Prof essiofliil  Mdit«  Key  [I ) 

5im.ib  lo  Noilon  Utililits  -  :r&Dl  h  file  fewvery  Ofid 

fiispkiy  rncp  cf  d'rsk  spote 
UT11Z     BaniKfMaktrd) 


Stoirts/Tnx 


STI04     SiDdi  Morket  Anolrnr  (1) 

A  g!&ir  ivr^'  tc  occ^.'e  itocki  i1  giDph  lorni. 
SUDS     PCCltDrl(2)V.  1.01 

Hig  menu  diwer  tool  he^  you  bi^  end  seli  stocks  Dud 

tommOiSlies. 
STI1S     Ihi  Son  Trader  ID 

One  ol  tfiE  nil  lira  tloSik  invtstrseM  wli.   ICCA  » 

q^retl)- 
Sni8     PFROI2.2(l) 

Coltutatc!  tt«  !bi™  m  limstrmnl  l»  you  aiiKlmeni 

STI1V     FimiHlolPoflnerd] 

5?.';^.  c%e^i  r/ps  of  ErrarKiol  cokiAitior. 
STI20      PCToii9ti) 

My  lo  do  yxr  1989  Iiies,  nidi  ol  sttalijte. 
STI21      Sliore-Tu/104l)(1) 

Paffoims  ofi  the  ukJGWxn  br  /oor  lorrtr  lOiO. 


Dolaiiases/Calaloging 


DB1SI     Video  LlinirylDV.  3.01 

Hie  iltirels  ctio'^e  to  orgoiizs  y^jr  wdeo  lope  tc^- 
rcn  StKEs  up  10  T.QOO  fc. 
DBIIO     For  Bnscball  Cods  (II  V.  1.02 

BcseW!  tar-s  bre  It! 


ItatalMMi/Mailina  Utti 


DBII«     M<iisA|>|jed(l)V.3.2 

ttie  b«i  oDpjtpffiC  ell  tnol  mgi.  {uognm.  IHoiil  dsl: 
lecwfimended). 
DBI2]     Prrrfile  (2)  V.  1.2 

Dssigna)  to  keep  nod  d  iRvDnmt  (usioiim  aid  [orr 
iDds,   iHaid  ask  rerommeidedl. 


DnlabaMs:  FuiryFealured 


DBMS     PCHbPlvs(3)V.2.0 

30  new  nrri  ertrarted  fecttures  Id  Bultonwre's  popjla 
PCFfe 
DBMS     Wonpir!!!  (2)  V.  3.3S 

Stippofis  dSftSE  III  Willi  vntiffllly  oil  t^e  tindioFii  you 
will  ever  need,  (Hard  dm  rKommended). 


Business 


BHM130Billp«werd) 

Co5tami7e  yooi  o*t!  prc^rom  lo  prEpoie  bJk  nnd  keep 

compfate  t«ords,[hord  risk  (cquiredi, 
BHMmStofkd) 

For  ihose  biKTiKss  wHh  stcndard  ™niory  prvd  le- 

SliKtirig  re(p;iiErnents. 
BHM135  Payron  USA  System  (2} 

Ihis  ofie  doe  -[^1  fli€  tt^bliorB  foi  ip  to  2,DC0  em- 

■^kfea.{f}iQk  r-equired]. 
BHM140TlieWh]nhigBidd)V.3.1 

For  torn  ctiiateur  Dnd  pide^yonai  ouctiofB- 12  ildKWS 

ratuiid'. 


BHM1S2  Form  Master  (I] 

&.  poA^rfjJ  program  far  genetjting  tncny  types  ol  fcwrri 
BflMI32  The  BwOntss  Conifldi  Manager  (2] 

Keep  Kii  Chi  o<!  yoji  huariKi  (on'oits  05  wsB  (a  liierds 
and  rciolivts  with  itK  jXKitim,  (5121;  teqimedl. 


Actounting  Business 


BKMII 5  Pakiless  Accounting (3) 

EverytFitrg.yoL  need  fof  mo;nt{iiningi  GKieral  ledger,  Bid- 
ing, Atwjiits  fiEcer/nhle/PoiiAle.  (fieq,Lires  512k  and 
tioid  disU. 
BHM1 19  PC  General  Ledger  ID 

Easy  10  u«  double  erttiy  Gewfaj  Ledger  lystein  for  ynoU 

BHM1 29  Merchont  Accounting  [t] 

System  designed  foi  tetail  oi  wblesate  with  bwllir!  Ipr 
verilBy  rranoijwnefit 


Atcounling  Personal 


BHmi05Ei|iiisia»di(l) 

Owign  ^  own  checkbook  progran  Itm  EipteHwirf, 
BHM10S6<iniistU 

Home  vernier  [rf  i+te  commexiof  ihetkbook  piogrorn. 
BHM1 13  Oiecklxioli  MonogenralMI)  V,  1.0 

A  'do  oH"  pcogfcn  fof  thi^e  who  hcte  lo  bconse  ttsJ/ 
(IwlbMl,  (1921;  Rom,  D'»  2.\  oi  lolei.l 


CI03      Vtv>l^eViil»f>ol»r(l)V.1.a 

lime  to  ploy  poter  widi  de  beit.    I[GA  or  VGA  it 
OLftredJ. 
Gt06       loltoKgnibBGeneratorlDV.lOO 

Cd"  De  "(I'DlEd  IG  /0*JI  s'ote  lOflO- 

GlIO      PCLolto(l)V.2.1 

Nji/  iftj  (DT  ptk  itie  'wretitn^.  ior^ts  ani  h&id 

Gil  7      W^SlrHt(l) 

1lu  ini  dm  wu  hM  tie  mrkei  ra^  wnb  (mm 

IhebJlolliekn.  IBASIC  liquired). 
GI2I      SlsTnlidl 

Fou  iMifiiit  S«i  Tiel  gniHS  IBASK  required). 
6127      DfHiiiT<HaB«aJMl(tl 

Yoti  fkl  'en  Old  (lor  she  (ixnpuiei    ICU  reqiired). 
GI36      MoiMiielrindliiibdl 

Hold  to  ifnpime..Jiut  this  oos  tms.  With  Byfrlye  Boris. 
G137       Dnngeoiis  and  Orggtm  (I ) 

lilt  mv.  fcnlo^v  rolfrpkririna  gor*. 
G141       StiiHrll) 

Vou'ro  llie  pilot  cJ  ^  liekopter  gurei^  (CGA  required). 
G149      EGA  Trek  ID 

Thii  version  leatores  sopoih  gntpliiHt 
G162      Nyetnndolhetsd) 

Clone  ol  tlie  lilgHy  popokit  lET^IS,  end  other  goines. 


S103       FutlollFcollD 

Woiidciful  oii}t:r(;tf  b  uoiinii  rlifr  iocol  pools. 


Desktop  Orgniiiiers 


OKI  01     PCD«littam{1)V.2.01 

lotieoie  oHite  ptocotlmt^  wth  tm  dssklop  tool. 
DK103    MrO>drn)V.2,1 

]h  perfocf  flo<e  lor  oil  vo^r  infoimotion  lop  id  41)  teit 
lies). 


Pricing 

No.    Di 

sks        Casl/Disk 

I-IO 

S2.85 

I1-20 

2.50 

2!-30 

2.25 

31-50 

2.00 

5M00 

l.?5 

101-299 

1,50 

300+ 

1.20 

3.5"  rfsi  o/rfere  plfose  add  5  lOO/iit. 


Sliipping 

S3. 00  foi  ordcis  under  S50 

Ordeis  over  S50  Sliipped  Free 

Canada  sliipping  S10 

COD:  53.00 

Asli  aboul  express  sliipping 

VISA,  MaslerCard 

Cherk;  lallow  10  days  to  clear) 


^^^^^2 


Phone  Orders 

1-S00-44M458 
Fax:206-236-2704 

Customer  Assistance 

206-232-5376 

Call  For  Free  Calalog 


Sulk  Blank  Disks 
i  i/j"  D5DD:  S.35/disk  witii  sleeves. 
AvadgbJe  in  lots  of  50  oniyj 

RninWare 

P.O.  Box  1194  Mercer  Island,  WA  98040 
Bom  -  6  pm  PST  MF  9am  •  5pm  PST  SAT 

IBM  Compc"i^i5  Shae,v:ic 
£  f\jbt(  Ooinuir.  Sahvott 
Hvmb&s  in  pomikiei  inkaie  mmkr  of  Ms 


Circle  Reader  Service  Number  141 


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Li>t 
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80  MEG  Hard  Drive 


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20  MEG  Hard  Card 


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30  MEG  Hard  Cc 

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ST-138RU 


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1998 


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BUSINESS/HOME 

n  Express  Check  3.07  (1117)-A  great  program  to  manage 
your  checking  accounts!  Even  prints  ctiecks! 

D  Home  Inventory  3.4  (3137)-  Helps  you  keep  track  of  every- 
ttiing  you  own.  Great  for  insurance. 

a  Painless  AccGunllnB  4J]  (3  dlsla)  (1120)  -  Easy  to  use  and 
loaded  with  tealures.  General  Ledger.  Accounts  Receivable/ 
Payable,  invoicing,  ctieck  printing  and  mofe.  (HD) 

DATABASE/SPREADSHEET/ 
WORD  PROCESSING 

n  PC-Calc-t-  (3  disks)  (3410) -A  wry  powerful  spreadsheet. 

D  PC-Frle:dB  (3  disks)  (1330)  -  An  excellent  dBase  compati- 
ble data  base  program.  Very  poweriul!  |HD) 

G  PC-Outiine  3.34  (3915)-An  excellent  tliQugl^l  outljner!  Can 
also  be  used  as  a  free-tornn  database.  (Resident  and  non- 
resident versions  induded!) 

P  PC-Styltst  1.2  (3917) -Improve  your  writifig  style- 

D  PC-Wrile  3.02  (3  disks)  (3S20)-One  of  the  best  word 
processors  available  anywirere.  Easy  to  use  and  loaded  with 
features  including  spell  checker. 

EDUCATION 

□  Aniyl!  First  Primer  (1717)  -  Six  different  learning  programs 

for  ctiildren  ages  4-8.  (CGA) 
D  (^mpuler/OOS  Tutor  4.4  (1415) -Learn  tiow  lo  use  your 

computer  and  DOS  easily  witti  this  educational  program. 

A  must  for  anybody  trying  to  learn  about  computers! 
a  The  DOS  Leamlnfl  System  (1417)  -  Learn  how  to  use  DOS 

with  this  great  tutorial.  All  versions  of  DOS  2.0-3.3. 
D  Funnels  and  Buckets  (1727)- A  fun  way  to  teacti  ctiildren 

basic  math  skills!  (CGA) 
D  Lotus  Learning  System  (2 disks)  (1420)-learn  Lotus  2.0 

easily  and  quickly, 
a  Piay  'n'  Learn  2.03  (1735) -A  collection  of  six  programs 

for  children  18  months  to  4  years.  (CGA) 
myplng  Teacher  (1425) -This  disk  contains  3  program 

designed  lo  improve  the  speed  and  accuracy  of  your  typing! 
D  Worid  2.93  (1B49)-The  ultimate  globe!  Learn  about  cities, 

countries  with  this  computerized  globe.  (CGA) 


GAMES 

a  Arcade  Games  1  (1811)-Pac-nnar)  (3  versions!),  Hopper, 
Space  Invaders,  Janitor  Joe  and  others.  (CGA) 

□  Artade  Games  2  (1812)  -0-Bert ,  Donkey  Kong ,  Breakout, 
Beast  and  others.  (CGA) 

D  Artade  Games  3  (1813)  -Striker,  Space  War  &  more.  (CGA) 

a  EdS  Chess  (2425) -The  best  chess  game  available  any- 
where. (It  beat  Chessmaster  2000) 

n  EISA  Cuniilno  Football  23  (1927)-The  best  football  simu- 
lation anywhere,  EGA  or  VGA  Graphics  required. 

D  EGA  Games  1  (1911)  -  A  collection  of  the  best  EGA  games 
including  EGAroids.  Reflex.  Aldo,  Flees  and  others.  EGA  or 
VGA  Graphics  required. 

□  Graphic-Less  Games  (2111)-A  collection  of  games  that 
don't  require  color  or  graphics.  (Will  work  on  ANY  system!) 

D  Great  Advamures  1  (2531) -Five  exciting  games. 

□  KIdtf  Games  (2317) -Fun  tor  the  under-12  set. 

Q  Master  the  Market  (243S)-3  great  stock  maritet  simu- 
lators! 

D  Mind  Puzzles  (2439)  -  3  programs  that  ctiailenge  the  mind! 
(CGA) 

n  Miramar  Flight  Simulator  (2319) -Go  lo  Top  Gun  flight 
school  and  pilot  an  F-18  into  combat.  (CGA) 

D  Monopoly  (2445) -A  great  rendition  of  the  classic  game. 
Great  color  and  sound!  (C(3A) 

□  PC-Pni-Goil  4.2  (2327)  -Tee  it  up.  and  play  18  holes!  (CGA) 
G  Pinbali  1  (1821) -Five  great  pinball  games.  (CGA) 

D  Strategy  Games  (2461) -Risk,  Othello.  Chess,  fJyet(Tetris 

clone),  and  others.  (CGA) 
D  Star  Trek  Games  (2341) -Three  games:  an  arcade  game, 

standard  Star  Trek  game,  and  a  trivia  game. 

MISCELLANEOUS 

□  Banner  4  sign  Makers  (3215) -Make  banners  or  signs  for 
any  occasion.  Works  with  any  printer. 

n  Brother^  Keeper  4.3  (2  disks)  (3120) -Excellent,  full- 
featured  genealogy  program  that's  easy  to  use. 

n  Calendar  Maker  (3129)-Crea!e  calendars  for  any  month 
or  year 

D  Express  Graph  1J)5  (2815)-Create  regular  and  3-D  graphs, 
easily  |CGA) 

D  Formgan  3J1  (3227)  -A  very  versatile  form  generator  Make 
any  kind  of  form  for  business  or  home  on  any  printer! 

a  Kwikstat  2.0  (2  disks)  {3130)-A  complete,  easy-to-use 
statistics  package. 

D  PC-Key-Draw  3.65  (4  disks)  (2780) -An  exceptionally 
powerful  graphics  program.  Comes  with  a  large  collection 
of  ready-made  graphics.  (CGA)  (HD) 


Order:  800-876-3475  Information:  503-776-5777  Fax:  503-773-7803 


□  Piatioman  4.0  (3147)  -Create  and  play  music  on  your  PC! 
Lois  of  fun! 

D  SpeedHead  (1845) -Learn  to  speed  read! 

a  Wlllkit  (3157) -Prepare  a  will  that  is  valid  in  all  50  states. 

UTILITIES 

a  Automonu  4.5  (3515)  -  Latest  version  of  the  most  popu far 

menuing  program  ot  all  time! 
D  Backup  Whiz 2.1  (3517) -Back  up  your  hard  disk  quickly 

and  safely  v^ith  this  easy-to-use  program. 
a  Best  DOS  Ulllltles  (3S2S)- Essential  utilities  for  DOS  File 

(inders.  listers  and  numerous  other  handy  utilities  that  will 

save  you  time.  Very  easy  to  use! 

□  Epson  Utilities  (2  disks)  (3210) -A  collection  of  utilities 
for  Epson  and  Epson-compattSle  printers 

D  Hercules  Ulllltlas  (3625)  -A  collection  of  utilities  for  Her- 
cules graphics  cards.  Includes  SIMCGA. 

D  Mr.  iJbel  4.1  (3235) -Powerful  &  versatile  (abel  maker. 

a  PC-Deskteam  2.01  (3549)-A  Sidekick-like  program  with 
even  more  features! 

a  Professional  Master  Key  (3555) -A  collection  of  utilities 
like  Norton's.  Recover  erased  files  easily! 

D  Vaccines  and  Vims  Killers  (3627)  -  A  cQlledion  of  utilities 
designed  to  protect  your  system  fmm  viruses!  Tliis  disk 
includes  Flu-Shot -t  152. 

WORDPERFECT  5.0 

D  PC-Draft  II  (2  disks)  (3760)-Create  clip  art  graphic  files 
(in  .WPG  format)  for  WP  5.0.  Includes  dozens  of  images 
to  help  get  you  started.  (CGA)  (HD) 

D  WordPerfect  5.0  Art/Grapliics  (2  disks)  (3710)  -  Dozens  of 
clipart  images  and  clip  art  vievrer, 

D  WordPertect  5.0  Learning  System  (2  disks)  (3730) -Learn 
WP  5.0  easily  and  quickly  with  this  great  tutorial  (WP  5.0 
is  NOT  required) - 

G  WordPerfect  5.0  Macms  (2  disks)  (3720)- Hundreds  of 
helplul  macros  for  WP  5,0. 

D  WordPerfect  5.0  Menumice  (2  disks)  (3740) -Menu  sys- 
tems, mouse  drivers, 

a  WonlPerleet  5S  Tools  (2  disks)  (3750) -A  collection  of  17-f 
utilities  lor  WP  5.0 

(CGAI  Requires  Color  Graphic  Adapier 

(HD)  Requires  Hard  Disk 

Some  of  the  programs  we  sell  ate  'stiareware.'  SliarBware  proBrjms  are 

cowrighlefl  and  require  additional  payment  to  the  ayttiors  if  lound  usetul. 


Busmsss/Company  (if  applicable) 


City/Slate/Zip 


Phone 

Method  ol  Payment:    □  Check/Money  Order   D  Visa/l*(asterCard    D  COD 

All  checks  must  be  payable  In  US  funds.  We  cannot  accept  Eurochecks. 


Disk  sin:    DSW    D  3'A' (add  SI  per  disk  it  you  require  3'/! ") 
No.  Disks xt -S 

ID  Shipping  S $300 
a  Airtiorne  Express.  48  states  (add  J5)  S 
D  UPS  2nd  Day  Air  (add  S3-00)  S 
D  COD  (add  $4)                                S 

D  Foreign  (add  «)  S 

TOTAL  ORDER:  3 


Exp.  Date 


Signature 


Reasonable  Solutions 

2101  West  Main,  Medforcj,  Oregon  97501 


Circle  Raadar  Service  Numlier  127 


Lyco  Computer 

Marketing  &  Consultants 


Since  I9fii 


Now  get  all  your  computer  needs  with  just  one  phone  call! 


%- 


Panasonic. 

■  24  pin  print  heaa 

•  192  cps  (draft) 

•  letter  quality  text 
at  63  cps 

•  push/pull  tractor, 5  resi- 
dent print  fonts, parallel 
Centronics  interface  and 
a  standard  6K  buffer 


KX-P1124 


Printers 


$285 


95 


•  ISOcps  draft 

•  45  cps  NLQ 

•  4  resident  fonts 

•  216  X  240  dpi 
resolution  and 
print  pitches  from 
3  to  20  dpi 


NX-1000 

Seri?^-  " 


$159' 


Panasonic. 

Offifif  Aiiit.finliijri,;    \(t 

•  S12K  memory 
comes  standard 

•  11  pages  per 
minute  print  speed   ... 

•  Panasonic's  — 
1-year  warranty 

$1299'^^ 


-P4450 


Panasonic 

1180 S169.95 

1191 $218.95 

1124 S285.95 

1695   SCALL 

1624.  ., S439.9S 

4450  Laser  .$1299.95 

Kodak 

Diconix  150  + $339.95 


Drives 


star 

NX-10D0  II  .  .  .S159.9S 

NX-1000  color  S209.95 

NX-1500 S309.95 

NX-Z410 S279.95 

NX-2415 5385,95 

NX-2400 S274.9S 

XR-1500 S419.95 

XR-1000 S325.95 

XB-2410 S419.95 

XB-2415 S549.95 

Laser  S S1 729.95 


Brother 

M17Z4L $519.95 

HR20 $319.95 

HR40 $539.95 

IVI1809 3349.95 

IV11824L $469.95 

fW1909 S449.95 

fV!1924L $594.95 

HLSpsfPosi  scripij  SCALL 
HLSe   $1799.95 


Citizen 

120  D SI  38.95 

120  D  Serial   .S164.95 

180  D SI  54.95 

GSX-140   .  .  .    $319.95 

HSP-500 S315.95 

HSP-550 S44S.95 

Premiere  35  .S499.95 
Tribute  124  .  .$382.95 
Tribule224.      S559.9S 


Okidata 

172 S195.95 

182  Turbo  .  ..$229.95 

183 $219.95 

320 S329.95 

321 $459.95 

390 $459.95 

391 S629.95 

393 $979.95 

393C  (color)  $1069.95 
Laser  6   .  .      $1299.95 


Epson 

LX-B10 $184.95 

LQ-510 S319.95 

FX-850 $339.95 

FX-10S0 $434.95 

LQ-850 S512.95 

LQ-950 $529.95 

LQ-1050 $709.95 

LQ-2550 S909.95 


Ribbons,  cables  and  paper  available  for  all  applications. 


5.25"  Half  Heiqhts: 

ST  225  20  Meg  85  MSEC  MFM  . .  .$193.95 

ST  225N  20  mefl  SCSI S2B1.95 

ST238R30  nieg  RLL $199.95 

ST  251-1  40meg  28  MSEC  MFM  . .  .5315.95 
ST-277R-1  65  meg  40  msec  RLL  .  .5349.95 

ST  277R3-1  64  meg  SCSI $429.95 

ST  296N  B-l  meg  SCSI  S452.95 

3.5'": 

ST  125  20  meg  40  MSEC  MFM  .  .  .$225.95 

ST  125N  20  meg  SCSI $271.95 

ST  138R  30  meg  RLL $239.95 

ST138N30  mogSCSI $303.95 

ST  157R  49  meg  RLL .$299,95 

ST  157N  43  meg  SCSI J329.95 

Contfalle/5  avaifsbte  Irom  Western  Digital 
to  DTC.  Call  tor  pricing. 

Monitors^ 


Hard  Drives 

5.25"  Full  Heiqhts: 
5^4096  80  meg  28  MSEC  MFM  .  .$539.95 
ST-4144R  122  meg  2B  MSEC  RLL  .5599.95 

New  on  the  the  merhet  are  Seagate's 

revolutionary  Paired  Solution  hard  drives. 

Included  Is  Seagate  controller  card  and 

tiisk  manager  software  {already  loaded  on- 

to  tite  drive)  far  a  complete  and  easy  to 

use  hard  drive  package. 

Paired  Solutions: 

22SP  20  meg  MFfH $239.95 

ST  225  RP  20  meg  RLL  .  .  $221.95 
ST  238  RP  30  meg  RLL  ...  .S245.95 
ST  250  RP  40  meg  RLL  .  .  .$255.95 
ST  138  RP  30  meg  RLL  $289,95 

ST  157  RP  49  meg  RLL   ...  .S346.95 


TOSHIBA 

Floppy  Drives 

Toshiba  disk  drives  oiler  you 
»re  latest  in  VLSI  technology 
aitd  low  power  consumption 

5'/i"  360  KB  PC/XT  Compatible 

ND-04D S67.9S 

3',^"  720  KB  PC/XT  Compatible 

ND-352 $83.95 

Zi/:"  1.44  MB  PC/AT  Compatible 

ND-356T $97.96 

5Vj  •  1.22  MB  PC/AT  Compatible 

ND-08DEG S84.9S 

*  Universal  Instaltation  Kit  Included 

DON'T  LIMIT  YOURSELF! 

Buy  top  Quality  drives 

to  suite  your  needs 

MODEMS  = 


TAPE 
BACKUPS 

•VEREX- 

INTERNAL 

Excel-60  GO  MS  haH  Height  S'i  .  $699.95 
Excel-40  T4aMB  PCIXTJAT.  .  $629.95 
Excel-40  AT4DMB $319.95 

EXTERNAL 

Excel-60  GO  MS  Full  Heiglrt 

SMB/min $819.95 

Excel-40  T  40  MB  SWBImin  .  .  .  S729.9S 
Call  for  Controller  and  Accessory  Prices. 
Models  Up  TO  ISO  MS  Available! 

TAPES 

3MDC-60OA 527.95 

3MDC-6150 S29.95 

3M  DC-2aO0 S22.95 

Teac  CT-60OH  cassete  S26.95 


Magnavox 

BM76S2  Mon.  Comp $84.95 

BM7622  Mon.  Comp S84.95 

7BM623  TTL    $84.95 

CMa702  COIOrComp    $179.95 

CM8762  RGB $234.95 

8CM-S15  RGB   S239.95 

9CM-043  EGA $299.95 

9CM-053  EGA S319.9S 

9CM-082  VGA $399.95 

NEC 

Multisync  GS-2A  Wliilo  VGA  .S239.9S 
Multisync  3D  VGA  EGA  CGAS649.95 
Multisync  2A  VGA    S524.95 


GoldStar 

2105  A  Composite   $69.95 

1410  CGA  14"    5209.95 

1420  EGA  14" S319.95 

1430  VGA  14"    $349,95 

1 440  Superscan   S399.95 

Everex  Video  Cards 

Evergraphics  Mono $54,95 

MicroEntiancer  EGA SB9.95 

MicroEnhancer  Dl  EGA  PR  Pom  .$94.95 

Viewpoint  VGA  S199.9S 

Cardinal  Video  Cards 

Cardinal  VGA  200 51 45.95 

Cardinal  VGA  256 $169.95 


Everex: 

Ei/ercom  12  (INT) $54.95 

Evercom  24  (INT| $119.95 

Evercom  24  +  MNP $149.95 

Evercom  24E+  MNP 5199.95 

Cardinal: 

MB1250  INT $49.95 

MB1200EX  EXT $67.95 

MB2450  INT $79.95 

MB2400EX  EXT $99.95 

Flastilink  MNP 

(software) S39.9S 

LYCO  COIVIPUTER 
lias  just  the  modem  tor  you! 


Clirdinal  ^ 
2400  BD  MNP  +    V/5 


SENDFAX  (4800  BPS) 


$119 


Whf  shop  3l  LycD  Computer?  lyco  Compuler  olfers  quality  name  brand  computer  pioducts  al  prices  30  %  lo  50  %  be\9N  rel&il  l(  you  do  nol  see  Ihe  protfuci  ydu  want  adverl^s- 
fid.  call  Lyco  Computer  lot]  free.  Hew  do  I  know  }  wlil  get  the  product  f  fi6i<t?  Our  mark^ling  slalf  receives  contincus  formal  training  by  our  manulaclurers.  As  thousands 
of  people  everji  week  capi1ali2«  on  our  savings  and  services,  we  hope  you  loo,  will  make  Lyco  Computer  your  first  cfioice.  Whst  about  warranty  or  settles?  Our  Customer 
Service  Department  is  available  at  (717)  494-1673  to  assist  you.  We  back  all  at  our  manufacturer's  slated  warranty  terms.  Before  returning  any  item  ttial  appears  lo  be  detective, 
we  ask  Ifiat  you  call  our  Customer  Seriiice  Department.  Wiii  you  rush  an  tfem  fo  me  ?  We  etfer  next  day  air.  two  day  air.  standard  UPS,  and  postal  internationa!  sfiipping  services. 
Temporary  shortages  are  normally  filled  within  10  days.  Huw  da  I  order?  We  have  aiways  olfered  C.O.D.  orders  thraugh  UPS.  Prepaid  cash  orders  over  S50  are  shipped  freight- 
free.  Simply  send  your  order  to  Lyco  Computer,  P.O.  Box  5CSB.  Jersey  Shore^  PA,  17740,  For  orders  under  S&O.  please  add  S3  for  Ireighl.  Personal  and  company  checks  require 
ff  J  week  watting  period.  Visa  and  Master  Card  orders  are  accepted.  Please  add  4 '■<  lor  credit  cards.  Purchase  orders  are  accepted  from  Edutationaf  Inslilutions.  We  charge 
sales  tan  on  deliveries  in  Pennsylvania.  Fo:  APO.  FPO.  and  international  orders,  add  SS  plus  3  '^  for  priority  mail  Prices  Fr\  this  d^  reflect  cash  prices.  Advertised  prices  and 
availability  are  subject  to  change.  Not  responsible  for  typoqraphrcai  errorc  ,^  ,    .  ..  , _.     j*   _     _    i »_ 

^  '  ^  *'  Tt~H  f       '^  Ot/r  friendly  sales  staff  can  help 

ATTENTIOH  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS:  II  pu  are  nol  cunEnlly  using  m  ^,,^  questions  you  have' 

educalional  service  progiam.  please  csll  our  repiesenlatives  ler  details  .u^^iMt^iiMMMMIMMMUiMU 


Salos:  1-800-233-8760  or 

717-494-1030 

Hours.  Mon-Fri.  9a.m.-9pm. 

Sat.10a.m-  Spm. 

Customer  Service: 

717-494-1670 

Hours  Mon-Fri  Sam  5pm 

Fax:  717-494-1441 


C  3  Is^ffi 


For  Fastest 

Service 

Call  Toll  Free 


800-233-8760 


.^. 


i^€cs   -^e/^^^ft^ 


5fV#1Bfll  ••ni-.**ir*ri(SB»irDyixr*UTgloofl«r»lc*«l 
'Xera  prcM  -nh  vrf.<^  i^mt,  i4<vc*  U^  tftT«nrt  i*v* 
^OTk  nc)  gtm  tY*ig  la  tniili  at  cfjUfy  md  »*vic*  i  ty  tort* 
yrtt*^  •■Wnoir^.^r-fliT-ftifrrnkhwtMtlonfiaprcarqi 
,tv  d«w«   «*n  wi  x:>oi  KKt^^-m't  fn  «iwhr»ty  I  j  rKffj  IT^ 


^>iPiwnui|unii'|innmiininiiiiij 


Can  LYCO  First AND  SAVE!!! 


Panasonic  FX  1650 


80e6/4/8MZ 


"The  FX  1650  represents  a  very  good  entry  tevel 
computer  made  in  the  USA  for  the  business 
person." 

Standard  FeaMres  Jncluds 

■  B08G  micrDprDCflssor  ■  3  drive  bays  (2  3.5".  I 
(418MHz)  5.25"| 

■  B40K  RAM  ■  S  Expansion  siGta 

■  CGAJMDA.  composite  video  ■  1  Parallel.  1  serial  port 
CDntroller  built  in  ■  Sockel  leady  lor  80fi7 

■  720K  3.5'"  floppy  Crive  coprocessor 

■  101  Key  enhanced  keyboard 


EXTRA  FEATURES  FREE!!  I 

1^    CGAi'MDA- composite  video  conlroller  $99  VALUE 

1^     FULL  6-:0K  B«M  mol  S12K1  SBO  VALUE 

J-'    MS-DOSIGW  BASIC  S99  VALUE 


$499 


95 


starter  Syslem 


TY   Ifiiin           VIDEO  OPTIONS      ^^    , 

r  A     1  OOU             [including  monilor  and  display  caid) 

DRIVE  OPTIONS 

MONO 

S?'^ 

EGA 

VGA 

1  FLOPPV  3.5 

S569 

S729 

Se99 

£999 

■DUAL  FLOPPY 

S629 

S799 

S969 

51069 

1  FLOPPY  30MB 

SSI  9 

sgB9 

S1t69 

51269 

1  FLOPPY  (0MB 

3649 

S1019 

St  199 

SI  299 

'  Indudes  3.5"  and  5.25"  tloppt  tfj-it^es. 


VENDExHeadstart  III  286/12MZ 


"  Vendex  betievss  that  many  novice  and  ex- 
perienced users  would  rather  stsrt  with  a  tulty 
featured,  component  rich  system." 

Standard  Features  Include 

'  8C2BG  Microprocessor-  B  or     •  llOr^ZO  (wilchablo  power 


12  MHz  (swilGhabiel 

•  Socket  foi  85257 
CQ-p'0C8s«ar 

■  Awirtl'HeadalBit  CiisIO'rn 
BIOS 

•  1.2MB  S,25"  llopp/  disk 


5Uppiy 

■  B  Expansion  stols  (S.n6  bil) 

■  Ib^K  Vidso  RAM 

*  lOi  K«y  «rthtnc«(t  key&oiBfd 

*  Pacailei,  siartji.  game  port 
and  bus  moDse  port 


EXTRA  FEATURES  FREE!!! 

t^    VGA  monilor  mlh  VGA  color  adaplei  599S  VALUE 

,y    321MB  Hafd  i)ii»e  SJ99  VALUE 

(^    l.4<3.5'  lloppftltiie  SUS  VALUE 
t^    3  bultQi)  Uause  [by  Lagdo!:hi 

Willi  diivBfs  ana  ulilities  SI49  VALUE 

(/-     IMS  RAW  SJ?9  VALUE 

t^     MSDOSIGW  BASIC  «  3.3  S89  VALUE 

i^     la  monlh  on  sight  wafran(y  [NCLUQED 


flf/LASER Turbo  II   soaanoMz         MLASER  286/2 


286/1 2MZ 


^'...Everything  you  expect  trom  an  8038  CPU  plus 
a  host  of  powerful  features." 

Standard  Features  Include 

•  BOBB-^  Microprocessor  •  IC?  keji  rrnhancuct  keyboard 
14,77/10  MHz)  •   I   360K  5.2S"  floppy  d(iv« 

•  Socket  for  B087-1  •  8  expansion  slolft 
CO-procflSSor  *  P«r«llBt,  sailal,  qama  pOCtS 

•  FULL  64DK  RAM  standard  •  CGAIMDA,  Comp.  vidao  adaptor 

•  ISO  watt  power  supply  •  F^rgnlpanal  Indicator  ligtitis 

•  4  drive  baysJe>pQS«d  >  VLSI  gAt«  array  technology 

EXTRA  FEATURES  FREE! ! ! 

i^  CGAiMDA,  CompoLite  video  jdaplor—           S99  VALUE 

1^  aaf.  RAM  Inol  iusi  SUKi                              S60  VALUE 

1^  MSDOSIGW  BASIC  1.3-                                  599  VALUE 

^  PC  TOOLS  DELUXE  ,■<  rmd  uaw  i»B.n-.-,-,  SIPS  VALUE 

I-'  Joyslict  pon                                                   INCLUDED 

t^  One-YMf  warranty  iparis  and  latwn                INCLUDED 


$589 


95 


starter  System 


TURBO  II 

VIDEO  OPTIONS 

including  mor^llor  and  display  card) 

DRIVE  OPTIONS 

MONO 

CGA 

EGA 

VGA 

IFLOPPy 

S6S9 

SB19 

S9S9 

S1139 

■DUAL  FLOPPY 

S729 

SB89 

SI  049 

S1189 

•30MB  SEAGATE 

S929 

$1089 

S1239 

51389 

•40KB  SEAOATE 

S9S9 

51119 

$1269 

S141J 

'  Seconil  little  Tos^>Ijji  3  S  or  SJS  floppr  tttive 


SVEREX-AGI  3000G  386SXn6MZ 

(MADE  IN   THE  USA) 

The  AGI  3000G  by  Everex  represents  the  perfect 
combination  of  performance  and  value  for  users 
wanting  the  power  of  a  336  based  system. 

Standard  Features  Include 

■  Norton  S\  I7.&  *  Hard  drive  sel-upS  in 

■  Intel  e03B€SX  0  wail  Klale  nOM  (4S  h«rd  drive 
leMH;  combiniilons) 

■  1MB  FlAM  standard  »  200  Wall  pouter  supply 

■  1,2MB  5, 25"  lloppy  dfivfl  |I10^220> 

■  hard  aisk/llDppy  cont.(l:1  int.)  •  LED  readouts  loi  power 

*  6  expiansion  slo1s(JM6  bit.2f8  and  disk  access 

bill  ■  Clocks  Calendar  W^battery 

*  Socket  lor  803S7SX  *  Front  panel  keylock  and 
COproces^SDi  spe^tei  ontotf  swilcli 

■  101  Key  enhanced  keyboard 

EXTRA  FEATURES  FREEIi! 

t^     ilB  hour  liiclory  burnm  INCLUDED 

t^  2  Ptoprielary  c  pansioni  slots  lo  upgiade  lo  16MB  RAM 
p^    One  yfiar  warfj-niy  (parK  i  Inbor]  INCLUDED 


$1299 


95 


..Here's  proof  that  power  does  not  have  to  be 
expertsive.  nor  do  you  have  to  sacrifice  brand 
name  quality  for  'generic'  prices." 

Standard  Features  Include 


*  &02B6  MIcFopiocesaor 
(6h2  MHz) 

*  SoCkai  lOf  BD287 
Co-pfoce&SOr 

«  6dOK  flAM 
>[«xpandaEi(e  lo  IMBj 
4  1.ZMB  S.25"  Moppy 
disk  drive 

*  SeagaiQ  ST02  SCSI  tioal 
ddapter 


'■  2  dnvD  bays  (2  exposed) 

■  9  Expansion  slots  J8M6  bit) 

■  102  key  anHarMied  keybaord 

•  1  Paiall^l  and  2  sertal  ports 

■  Pronl  pan«l  LED  turbo 
leadaul 

■  Fiont  parcel  reset  ana 
kevlock 

*  CtcKik/calendar  Wfbattery 


EXTRA  FEATURES  FREE!  1! 

fult  ^iti¥.  RAM  [noi  iu^l  S)2Ki  SBO  VALUE 

MS-QOSrGW  Basic  SB9  VALUE 

PC  TOOLS  DELUXE  .  i  »sfc-iDp  orfl»^lre'^  il29  VALUE 

One-Veai  wjrranly  (parts  and  laborl  INCLUDED 


$779^^ 


starter  System 


_oe,fl                             VIDEO  OPTIONS 
ZoOf£                  (including  monitor  and  display  cardl 

DRIVE  OPTIONS 

MONO 

EGA 

VGA 

30  MB  Seagata 

S1179 

S1479 

$1629 

46  MB  Seagate 

S1279 

SI  579 

SI  729 

84  MB  Seagate 

S1479 

SI  779 

SI  929 

Osicom  MORE      386/25  mz 

"When  MORE  speed,  MORE  performance  and 
compact  size  are  on  order." 

Standard  Features  Include 


•  8D386  Micioprocessoi 
25MHz  (OwBitlBMHr 
switchabie 

•  AMI  BIOS  wllh  integrated 
Solup  &  Dfagnoslics 

■  1  MB  RAM  StanCFard  (expan^ 
dable  lo  IBUB) 

■  6  Expansion  slots  (1  3?  bit. 
&  IS  bit,  1  8  bit) 


-  t.2MB  5.25"  floppy  drive 

-  tOl  key  enhanced  kevtM)<ard 

•  64K  SRAM  Ceche  memory 

•  S  Drive  bays 

•  1  PaielEel  and  2  Serist  ports 
"  Cioctlcaiendar  Wlbattery 

-  150  Watt  power  supply 
■  B03S7  Cnpiocessor 
compatible 


EXTRA  FEATURES  FREE!!! 

t^    FREE  ONE-YEAR  ON  SIGHT  WARRANTY 

THROUGH  OOW-JONES  INCLUDED 

^^    AMI  BIOS  Willi  inlograli^d  Sotup  and 

Diagnoslici  INCLUDED 

;^    5  Diiie  tiayii  [nal  |u£i  31  INCLUDED 


Starter  System 


$1 


599^^ 


Starlet  System 


•  Hl«dd!iiijri  Advanced  Dperati 


FREE 


$2269 


95 


Loaded  System 


innnn         ^'°^°  options 

OUUUU                 (inciudinq  monitor  and  display  cafdl 

DRIVE  OPTIONS 

MONO 

VGA 
mono 

EGA 

VGA 
eolot 

30MB  Seagate 

S1739 

SI  899 

S2029 

S2149 

4DMB  Seagate 

SI  779 

SI  939 

S2069 

S2189 

80MB  Seagate 

S2029 

S2169 

S2299 

S2419 

_„„,„c                VIDEO  OPTIONS 
3oO/25                  iincludmg  moniloi  and  display) 

DRIVE  OPTIONS 

MONO 

VGA 
mone 

EGA 

VGA 
color 

48  MB  Seagate 

S2t39 

S2299 

S2429 

S2599 

B4  MB  Seagate 

S2259 

S2399 

S2S49 

S2749 

120  MB  Seagati 

$2599 

S2679 

E2799 

S2999 

TOSHIBA  T-1000  Laptop  TOSHIBA  T-3200      Laptop         A  Mitsubishi  MP  286L  Laptop 


P>ilck  up  on  the  T-taDQ  and  you'll  gO  lar.  Give  yoursair 

desktop  PC  power  wheievOi 

you  read  iL  Toshiba's 

T-tOOO  includes  S12K 

RAM.  one  built-in  720KB 

3.5"  disk  drive  supert- 

wist  LCD  display  vtittr 

CGA  capability. 


$639 


95 


•  0O2B6  ProcessDi  Runn^no  el  17  MHz  or  8  MHz  ■  64tJ  KB 

RAM  *  If  DiBganDl  QfrW  Display  *  Color  Graphics 

Adapter  ■  1.44  MB  capacity 

2.5"  Disk  Dflve  *  Centponlcs 

Paj-allfll  Port  ■  2  R&-232C 

Serial  Ports  ■  A  Exspansion 

Card  sects  ■  MS-DOS  3.110  ■ 

GW  Basic  2.2Q  ■  Internal 

Speaker  >  t-¥«ar  Manufac- 

tuier's  Limited  Warranty 


Ctrcia  Reader  Sorvlce  Number  179 


The  World's  Best  IBM-PC  Compatible 


BUSINESS 

Form  Master  (4177)— Design  and  creale 
any  business  form  quicltly  and  easily. 

Stock  Charting  (4121) -A  very  compre- 
hensive slocl<  charting,  analysis,  and 
portfolio  management  package. 
PC-Calc+    (4130-4132) -The    most 
powerful  spreadsheet  package  available 
for  under  S200!  (3  Disks)  512K 
As-Easy-As  (4138)— A  fantastic,  easy  lo 
use  Lotus  1-2-3  spreadsheet  clone. 
Small  Business  Accounting  (4141)-A 
must  for  all  small  business  owners! 
Soive-lt!  (4143)-A  complete  financial 
formulas  package.  Great  for  bond,  mort- 
gage, and  investment  calculations. 
Vbur  Financial  Consultant  (4146)-An 
effective  money  management  system  for 
individuals  and  small  businesses. 


Programs  as  iow  as 
$1.49  per  disk! 


PC-Books  (4148) -A  complete  easy  lo 
use  bookkeeping  system.  Comes  vi/ith 
on-screen  help  and  a  tutorial. 
Manager's  Planner  (4162)— Become  a 
more  effective  manager.  This  excellent 
package  helps  you  with  planning,  organi- 
zation, and  time  management. 
PC-Project  Manger  (4165) -This  excel- 
lent menu-driven  project  manager  does 
job  scheduling,  critical  path  analysis, 
Ganti  charts,  and  more- 
Mr.  Bill  (4171,  4172) -Complete  billing 
system.  Keeps  track  of  your  accounts 
receivable  and  payments.  Prints  invoices 
and  statements  (2  Disks) 
PC-Loans  (4144)— A  complete  package 
that  supports  most  loan  methods.  Prints 
monthly  payments  and  balances. 
Legal  Form  Letters  (41 75) -Dozens  of 
form  letters  for  contracts,  employment 
appltcations,  filings,  etc. 

PC-Payroll  (417B,  4179)-A  complete 
and  powerful  payroll  system!  (2  Disks) 
Blakbook  (418S)-Great  for  keeping 
track  of  important  addresses  and  phone 
numbers.  Prints  an  address  book. 

HOME  MANAGEMENT 

Fast  Bucks  (4099, 4100)  -Tracks  all  your 
personal  and  family  finances  (2  Disks) 
Home  Budget  Manager  (4103)-Helps 
you  to  design  and  stick  to  a  budget. 
Checkmate  (4101)— A  fantastic  check- 
book program  with  reconciliation  fea- 
tures and  great  screen  displays. 
Home  Inventory  (4180) -Keeps  a  per- 
manent record  of  all  your  property 
Edna's    Cookbook    (4217,    421S)-A 
handy  electronic  cookbook  with  several 
great  recipes— add  your  own  (2  Disks) 
Family  History  System  (4852,  4853)  — 
Helps  you  trace  your  family  roots  and 
prints  genealogical  reports  (2  Disks) 

WORD  PROCESSING 

Letter  Writer  (4603) -Simplifies  letter 
writing  and  mall-merge,  fviaintains  a  file 
of  names  and  addresses. 
PC-Write  3.03  (4610-4612)-Ali  the  fea- 
tures you  need  including  spell-checking. 
The  BEST  word  processor  under  S200! 
(3  Disks)  512K. 

Writer's  Heaven  (4620)- A  great  add-on 
for  PC-Write  users.  This  package 
extends  and  supercharges  the  features 
of  PC-Write.  Highly  recommended! 
PC-Write  Macros  (4621) -A  collection  of 
100  practical,  time-saving  macros. 


DATABASE/MAIL  LIST 

File  Express  (4202,  4203)~An  easy  to 
use,  yel  powerful  database.  Highly  rated 
by  PC-Magazine.  (2  Disks) 
Mail  List  (4205)-Keeps  track  of  your 
mailing  list  and  prints  mailing  labels. 
Doctor  Data  Labels  (4209,  4210)-Has 
the  features  otherwise  found  in  only  the 
most  expensive  mail  list  software.  Power- 
ful and  complete-  (2  Disks)  512K 
PC-File:dB  (4213-421 S) -This  database 
package   is   complete,   powerful,   and 
dBASE  compatible!  (3  Disks)  512K  HD 

Idea  Tree  (4225)-An  AfiflAZING,  FAN- 
TASTIC, WONDERFUL  program  that 
takes  your  ideas  and  thoughts  and 
organizes  them  into  a  hierarchy  which 
you  ca»j  display  on  your  screen  or  print, 

EDUCATION 

French  I  &  II  (4500,  4501) -French 
vocabulary  for  students.  (2  Disks) 

Spanish  I  &  II  (4505,  4506) -Spanish 
vocabulary  and  verb  drills  for  beginning- 
intermediate  students.  (2  Disks) 
Spanish  Hangman  (4507)— What  a 
great  idea— make  Spanish  vocabulary 
fun  by  turning  it  into  a  game  of  hangman! 
Japanese  (4S10)- Designed  for  the 
business  traveler  and  language  student. 

German  I  &  II  (4512,  4513) -German 
vocabulary  instruction.  (2  Disks) 
Algebrax    (4524)  — Excellent    algebra 
tutor  which  has  different  levels  for  the 
basic  to  advanced  student.  CGA 

Facts  50  (4525) -A  graphic  geography 
lesson  of  the  United  Slates.  CGA 


FREE 
Disk  Drive 
Cleaning  Kit 
With  your  order 
of  7  or   more 
disks  from  this 
ad,  receive  this 
vital   mainten- 
ancekit,FREE! 
(a  S9.9S  value!).  Additional  kits  may  be 
purchased  for  a  special  price  of  only 
SS.QSeach.  Both  3Va" and  aVj" sizes 
available.  (Limitone  free  kit  per  order) 


Geography  (452B)-fi^ake  learning  fun 
with  this  geography  trivia  game. 
Math  Tutor  (4529) -A  (un  approach  to 
learning  math,  For  kids  ages  5-13. 
Are  You  Ready  for  Calculus?  (4534)- 
This  is  an  excellent  pre-calc  tutor  which 
reviews  algebra  and  trigonometry. 
Funnels   &    Buckets  (4535)-A  fun, 
more  effective  way  to  teach  kids  math, 
It's  a  fun  malh  learning  gamel 
World  (4537)-A  fascinating  electronic 
globe/database  at  your  fingertips.  CGA 
Puzzle  Search  (4538)-An  educational 
game  with  questions  on  American  his- 
tory, world  history,  and  geography. 
Balloon  Speller  (4541) -An  introduction 
to  spelling  for  children.  Games  lo  make 
learning  fun  for  pre-schoolers.  CGA 
The  Presidents  (4542,  4543)-A  very 
comprehensive  tutor  and  quiz  of  the 
presidents  and  their  terms.  (2  Disks) 
Flags  of  the  World  (4544) -See  and 
learn  the  flags  of  115  countries,  This 
great  program  even  plays  the  national 
anthem  of  several  of  the  countries-  CGA 
Typing  Tutor  (4550)  — Quickly  improve 
your  typing  skills  and  speed  with  this 
friendly  typing  teacher  CGA 
Play  'n'  Learn  (4555)  -  A  sel  of  six  learn- 
ing  games  for  pre-schoolers,  CGA 


Lotus  Learning  System  (4556,  4557) 

—A  very  complete  package  that  makes 
Lotus  1-2-3  easier  to  use.  (2  Disks) 
DOS-a-matIc  (45S9)-A  menu-driven 
program  that  makes  using  DOS  easy! 
PC-Professor  (4560) -An  easy  to  use 
programming  tutorial  which  teaches  you 
to  write  or  modify  BASIC  programs. 

Computer  Tutor  (4562)-lf  you  are  a 
new  user  or  computer  novice,  THIS  IS 
WHAT  YOU  NEED!  Learn  in  a  fun, 
pressure-free  environment.  Highly 
recommended! 

UTILITIES 

Masterkeys  (4300) -Like  the  popular 
Norton  Disk  Utilities,  only  better! 

SimCGA  (430S)-Utilities  which  allow 
you  to  run  many  programs  that  require 
CGA  on  your  monochrome  system. 
Grabber  (4342)— A  memory-resident 
program  that  will  save  to  disk  any  screen 
image.  You  can  then  run  a  slide-show  of 
saved  images.  CGA 

PC-DeskTeam  (4375) -Large  collection 
of  Sidekick-like  desktop  accessories 
(clock,  calendar,  phone  book,  etc.) 
Master  Menu  (4386)-Puts  all  the  pro- 
grams on  your  hard  disk  onto  an  auto- 
booting,  one-tauch  selection  menu. 

Q-Modem  SST  (4715-4717)-A  modem 
telecommunications  package  which  is 
powerful  and  versatile.  (3  Disks) 

GRAPHICS/PRINTING 

Epson  Utilities  (4333,  4334) -A  set  of 

fonts  and  utilities  to  enhance  your 
printer's  print  quality.  (2  Disks) 

LaserJet  II  Fonts  (4335, 4336) -Several 
new  soft  fonts  for  the  HP-LaserJet  II  and 
compatible  printers.  (2  Disks) 
City  Desk  (4340)- A  simple  desktop 
publishing  program  for  newsletters. 
Charts  Unlimited  (4343)-A  fantastic 
design  tool  for  creating  almost  any  type 
of  chart,  schematic  or  diagram.  Excelient 
printing  capabilities.  CGA 

PC-Draft  (4344,  4345)-A  high-quaiity 
drawing/painting  program.  (2  Disks)  CGA 

Express  Graph  (41 61) -Turns  raw  data 
into  great  graphs  and  charts.  A  picture 
is  worth  a  thousand  words! 
Insta-Calendar  (4e35)-This  calendar 
design  tool  and  printer  is  easy  to  use. 

Banner  Maker  (4801)  -  fvlake  banners  of 
various  styles  and  sizes.  Requires  an 
Epson  or  compatible  printer 


CFREE 
Disk  Holder 
In  addition  to 
your  FREE  disk 
drive  cleaning 
kit  with  your 
order  of  20  or 
more  disks  from 
this  ad,  receive 
your  choice  of  a  SVi "  (holds  75  disks) 
or  aVz"  (holds  40  disks)  disk  holder, 
FREE!  (a  $12.95  value!).  Additional 
disk  holders  may  be  purchased  for  a 
special  price  of  only  S9.95  each .  (Lim  it 
one  free  holder  per  order) 


PC-Key  Draw  (4391-4394) -Powerful 
CAD  design  software  system.  Works 
w/keyboard  or  mouse,  (4  Disks)  HD 
PrintShop  Graphics  (4397)-A  large 
collection  of  PrintShop  clip  art. 
PrfntMaster  Graphics  (4398) -Lots  of 
clip  art  for  Printfi/laster  users. 
On-Side  (4387)- Prints  your  spread- 
sheets (or  anything)  sideways! 


RELIGION/BIBLE 

BIBLE-Q  (4552) -Test  your  Biblical  IQI 
A  very  fun  to  play  B/BIE  knowledge  quiz. 
Church  dBASE  (4B12)-Automates 
membership  record  keeping  for  church 
congregations  and  other  organizations. 
SeedMaster  (4837-4849) -The  com- 
plete King  James  BIBLE  on  disk!  Allows 
quick  access  to  any  word,  phrase,  topic. 
Requires  hard  disk.  (13  Disks)  HD 

MISC.  APPLICATIONS 

ELISA  (4805) -Let  the  famous  com- 
puter psychiatrist  analyze  you.  It's  fun! 
Lotlol   (4823) -Complete   system   for 
most  stales'  lotteries.  (Requires  printer) 
Blorhythm  (4826) -Generates  a  chart 
for  any  month  and  prints  the  results. 
The  Diet  Disk  (4827) -Provides  the 
tools  for  successful  weight  loss. 
Astrology  (4831)-  Let  the  computer  tell 
you  what  lies  ahead  in  your  stars! 
Baseball  Cards  (4859)-A  custom  base- 
ball card  inventory  database  program  for 
collectors  and  baseball  card  stores. 
PC-Muslclan  (4900)-Compose,  record, 
and  play  back  music  on  your  computer. 
Piano  Man  (4902)-Record,  edit,  and 
then  play  back  your  favorite  tunes.  Also 
lets  you  turn  your  computer's  keyboard 
into  a  musical  instrument! 

GAMES 

Striker  (4400)-Arcade  helicopter  attack 
game.  Bomb  and  shoot  enemy  targets. 

(CGA-Wiil  not  work  '.vith  EGA/VGA 

Q-Bert  (4403)-  Play  the  famous  arcade 
hit  on  your  computer.  CGA 

Backgammon  (4404)-Play  against  a 
challenging  computer  opponent.  CGA 
Monopoly  (4405)-Really  fun!  Great 
color  graphics  and  sound,  CGA 

JetSet  (4407)-Ajet  flight  simulator  that 
teaches  airplane  navigation. 


Programs  as  low  as 
$1.49  per  disk! 


IRON  (4409)-  Race  your  iightcycle  but 
don't  hit  your  opponent's  trail!  CGA 

Bridge  Pal  (441 2) -Play  bridge  anytime! 
Includes  a  bridge  tutorial. 

IB-Hole  Miniature  Golf  (4414)-KidS 
really  love  this  one!  CGA 

Baseball  (4415)-Pick  your  team  and 
swing  for  the  fences!  A  game  of  base- 
ball strategy  and  arcade  play.  CGA 

D  &  D  (4418)  — Immerse  yourself  in  the 
ultimate  adventure,  anytime! 
AdventureWare  (4420)-  Five  challeng- 
ing text  adventure  games  sure  to  keep 
you  inlrigued  for  several  enjoyable  hours. 
PAC-MAN    &    More!    (4421) -Several 
really  fun  arcade  hits.  CGA 
Wheel  of  Misfortune  (4422)-A  really 
fun  version  of  the  popular  TV  show. 
Master  the  Market  (4425)- A  challeng- 
ing stock  market  simulation  game.  IVIore 
realistic  and  all-around  better  play  than 
the  popular  "Millionaire"  game. 
Kid  Games  (4426) -A  set  of  educational 
games  for  kids  2-7  years.  CGA 
Ed's  Chess  (4427)  — Challenge  a  tough 
computer  opponent.  Beats  the  expen- 
sive games  like  ChessMaster  2000! 
Solitaire  (4428)— The  computer  deals 
and  makes  sure  you  don't  cheat.  CGA 
Super  Pinball  (4429) -A  collection  of 
five  great  video  pinball  games.  CGA 


Software-    Alld  MOR     ! 


video  Poker/UltimaZI  (4435) -The  very 
best  poker  and  blackjack  games. 

RISK  (4436)  —  For  all  of  us  who  love  this 
great  board  gams.  Conquer  the  world. 
(CGA-Will  not  work  with  EGA/VGA) 


COLOR  DISKETTES 

We  now  use  these  excellent,  brand- 
name,  color  diskettes  for  all  our 
duplication,  (One  ^^i 

more  way  that  SEI  ^^^ 

stands  apart  from  ^^V 

the  competition —which  uses  second- 
rate,  black  generic  diskelies) 


Star  Trek  (4439}— You  are  captain  as  you 
lead  the  Enterprise  into  space  battle! 
PC-Pro  Golf  (4442)— Choose  your  club 
and  swing  away  at  the  Amherst  Country 
Club  in  this  excellent  golf  game.  CGA 
NINJA   (444S)-Use   your    fists,   feet, 
sword,  and  throwing  stars  as  you  battle 
the  evil  Ninja  warriors.  CGA 
Round42  (4446)— It's  like  a  new  and 
improved  version  of  the  all-time  favorite, 
"Space  Invaders."  CGA 
Sam  Spade  (4448)- Play  detective  and 
solve  the  case  in  this  adventure  game. 


For  Our  Customers 
Who  Need  SVi"  Disks 

If  you  need  the  ZV2"  disk  size,  we 
have  good  news  for  you!  SVj"  disks 
are  only  50$  extra!  (Others  charge 
$1.00  extra  or  more!) 


TUvlal  (44S5)-Have  hours  of  fun  test- 
ing your  trivia  IQ.  For  1-6  players. 
Marooned    Again    (4456) -A    great 
adventure  game  set  in  outer  space. 
McMurphy's  Mansion  (4457)— You  have 
inherited  a  fortune,  now  all  you  have  to 
do  is  find  it!  A  fun  adventure  game. 
PC-JIgSaw  (4458)-A  beautiful  picture 
is  displayed  and  then  jumbled  into 
several  pieces.  See  if  you  can  put  it 
together  again.  FANTASTIC!  CGA 
Checkers  (4459)— Think  you're  good? 
See  if  you  can  beat  your  computer!  CGA 

Scrabble  (4460) -Test  your  word  power 
with  this  always  fun  game.  CGA 
Games  for  Everyonel  (4461)- A  super 
collection  of  arcade  games  that  don't 
require  color  or  graphics  cards— they  will 
work  great  on  ANY  system. 

EGA  GAMES 

(Requires  an  EGA  or  VGA  system) 

Bass  Tour  (4447)-An  amazing  game 
with  excellent  graphics.  Fish  your  choice 
of  lakes.  Very  realistic!  EGA 
EGA  Football  (4480) -You  call  the  plays 
and  control  the  key  players,  EGA 
EGA  Trek  (4481)— You  command  the 
Starship  Enterprise  in  this,  the  ULTI- 
MATE Star  Trek  adventure.  EGA 

EGA  Golf  (4482) -A  challenging  golf 
game  with  beautiful  graphics,  EGA 
EGA  Arcade  Hits  (44S3)- EGA  versions 
of  Breakout  and  Asteroids.  EGA 
EGA  Risk  (4484)- Enjoy  the  great  color 
graphics  as  you  settle  for  nothing  less 
than  total  world  domination!  EGA 


COLOR 
DISKETTES! 

as  low  as  $  .39  ea. 


Brand-Name  Diskettes 

(Bulk  priced  for  tremendous  savings  for  you!) 
5y4''DS/DD  10  25  50  100  500 
BASF  (Slack)  .55  .49  .45  .39  .35 
KAO  (Colors)  .59  ,55  .49  .45  .39 
(Include  disk  Sleeves) 
3V^'DS/DD  10  25  50  100  500 
KAO  1.05  .99    .95  .89    .85 

SONY  1,201,101.05.99    .95 

All  blank  disks  come  with  disk  labels  for 
your  convenience.  Pre-formatting 
available— call  for  details.. 


Microsoft-compatible  mouse 
w/nouse  driver,  Dr.  Halo  III 
(painting/drawing  software), 
and  mouse  pad! 

Only  $59.95  complete! 


PRINTER  RIBBONS 

Call  us  for  the  lowest  prices 
on  ribbons  for  your  printer. 


COMPUTER  PAPER 

500  Sheets  $  7.95 

1000  Sheets 13.95 

2500  Sheets   30.95 


Programs  as  low  as 
$1 .49  per  disk! 


Why  Choose 
Software  Excitement? 

That's  easy!  OnlySE!  offers  the 
best  quality  Shareware*  and  Pub- 
lic Domai  n  Software  at  prices  this 
low,  with  same-day  shipping, 
easy  to  use  menus  on  almost 
every  d isk,  a  money-back  g uaran- 
tee  to  ensure  your  satisfaction, 
technical  support,  free  accesso- 
ries with  yourquantity  orders,  toll- 
free  order  lines,  brand  name  color 
diskettes,  and  SO  MUCH  MOREI 

'Shareware  is  the  future  of  software  mar- 
keting! Shareware  allows  you  to  use  a 
great,  commercial  quality  (or  belter)  pro- 
gram. If  you  find  that  the  Shareware  pro- 
gram fits  your  needs,  registering  directly 
with  the  program's  author  brings  many 
benefits  which  may  include  free  phone 
support,  a  printed  manual,  and  program 
updates.  Shareware  is  exciting! 


Call  Today  1-800-444-5457 


CMP14 


ORDER  FORM 


Complete  and  clip  for  mail  orders.  Please  list  program  disk  num- 
bers below:  (Please  list  blankdiskettes  and  other  itemson  asepa- 
rate  sheet— include  quantity,  complete  description,  and  price). 


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Need  3  V2"  disks? 
Add  50C  ea.  per  disk  ', 

Olher  items  O'dGred" 
Blank  Diskettes  Ordered     i 
Other  Items  Ordered  ' 

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Disks  Ordered 
1-4 

Price 

per  Disk 
$2.99 

5-9 

2.49 

10-14 

2.25 

15-24 

1.95 

25-49      

1.75 

50+ 

1.49 

Rememberlocount each  disk Inthe 
multiple  disk  sets  and  to  add  50it  per 
disk  if  you  need  the  3V2"  size. 


Order/Shipping  Info 


_B 


ThereisaSS.OO  handling/packag- 
ing charge  per  order.  All  Items 
shipped  anywhere  in  the  continental 
U.S.  for  no  additional  charge  (Canada 
add  $2,  other  foreign  add  $4  -  AK,  HI , 
PR  please  call  if  ordering  blank  disks 
or  paper),  COD  available  S4  extra 
(U.S.  only).  Sorry,  we  cannot  send 
blank  disksor  computer  paperoutside 
the  U.S.  and  Canada, 

UPS  2nd  Day  Air  is  available  any- 
where in  the  continental  U,S,  Add  an 
additional  $3  for  this  delivery  service 
(Blank  disks— add  $3  plus4e  perdisk. 
Paper— 2nd  Day  Air  not  available 
without  prior  arrangement— please 
call). 


CGA  =  Requires  Color  System 
HD  =  Recfuires  Hard  Drive 
512K  =  Requires  min,512K  RAM 


1-800-444-5457 


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Abrams  Battle  Tank S26 

Bards  Tale2 $32 

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Super  Password S9.8S 

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Keef  the  Thief S2B 

Lakers  vs.  Celtics 532 

l^adden  Football 532 

Magic  Candle  $32 

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Out  Run 525 

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Space  Harrier  . 525 

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Super  Star  Ice  Hockey  , . .  525 

Super  Star  Soccer 525 

OFIIGIN 

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Quest  For  Clues  Book2  .  ,319 

Space  Rogue ...532 

Tangled  Tale sig 

Times  of  Lore $25 

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Ultima  Trilogy $39 

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Sports  Jeopardy SS  88 

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Wheel  of  Fortune  2  or  3  S9  88 

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Colonels  Bequest $39 

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Leisure  Suit  t_arry  $25 

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Sccenan Call 

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Space  Quest  3 539 

Thcxder S23 

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Heart  of  Maelstrom 532 


SDA 
Discount  Price 


Return  ol  WciPnn 539 

Wizardry  Trilogy $32 

SOFTWARE  PUBLISHING 
PFS  IstCh  Quicken  ...$115 
PFS  lstPutlisner2.t  ....589 
Professi&nal  File  2  ti  ....  5207 
Professional  Write  2 1  ...  5149 
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Total  Eclipse $25 

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Certificate  UsKa $24 

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128  CALIFORNIA  Dreams    ...  97 
114  Computer  Direct    ...112-113 

168  CAPCOM  USA  1 

193  CompuServe    35 

199  The  Computer  Bookclub     29 

195  COVOX,  Inc 132 

122  DCS  Industries,  (nc 124 

126  DCS  Industries,  Inc 124 

147  Damark  International,  Inc.   110 

197  Davidson    5 

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170  Gemini  Marketing, 

Incorporated    122-123 

131  Gold  Hill  Software    95 

130  Golem  Computers   13 

Good  Software  Corp.     ...  49 


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192  Konami    59 

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198  MibroCo 114 

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164  Micro  Star    105 

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157  Parsons  Technology     .  .  80-81 
181  Postcraft  International,  Inc.    91 

123  Precision  Images   124 

141  RainWare  Ill 

167  Ramco  Computer 

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127  Reasonable  Solutions    .  .  .115 

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200  The  Science  Fiction 

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145  SIERRA    BC 

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162  Software  Publishers 

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196  XOR  Corporation   71 


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FEBRUARY       1990  COMPUTEI       127 


CONVERSATIONS 

THE  VIEW  FROM  EUROPE 


KEITH 


F     E      R      R     E     L     L 


Some  of  your  favorite 
games  may  be  European. 
If  not  now,  then  tomor- 
row. Entertainment  soft- 
ware is  an  increasingly 
global  business.  That's 
nowhere  more  evident 
than  in  Europe,  where  dy- 
namic continental  and 
United  Kingdom  markets 
are  spawning  games  for 
both  domestic  consumption  and 
export. 

Simon  Treasure,  general  secre- 
tary of  the  European  Leisure  Software 
Publishers  Association,  sees  the  growth 
of  European  software  as  inevitable. 
"I  don't  think  manufacturers 
are  any  longer  concerned  about  do- 
mestic penetration  of  any  one  coun- 
try," Treasure  says.  'They  regard 
Europe  as  a  whole.  Obviously,  with 
the  arrival  of  a  more  integrated  Euro- 
pean market  in  1 992,  this  becomes 
even  more  essential." 

There  are  economic  factors  as 
well.  "The  cost  of  developing  a  major 
product  today  is  so  large  that  it  cannot 
possibly  be  recouped  in  a  single  coun- 
try. The  game  has  to  sell  across  Eu- 
rope at  the  least,  and,  if  possible,  be 
licensed  into  .America,  just  as  .A^meri- 
can  companies  such  as  MicroProse, 
Electronic  Arts,  and  Activision  have 
large  European  operations." 

Powering  the  expansion  is  the 
current  generation  of  1 6-bit  comput- 
ers, led  by  the  Amiga,  the  Atari  ST, 
and  upper-end  PCs.  This  is  new,  espe- 
cially in  the  United  Kingdom,  which 
early  on  embraced  8-bit,  cassette-driven 
computers  such  as  the  Commodore 
64  and  gave  little  sign  of  being  willing 
to  give  up  the  machines. 

The  European  8-bit  market  was  a 
frenetic  environment.  With  games 
priced  at  just  a  few  pounds — less  than 
$5,  U.S. — new  games  had  to  sell  lens 
of  thousands  of  copies  to  turn  a  profit. 
Shelf  life  for  a  game  could  be  as  brief 
as  a  couple  of  weeks,  after  which  new 
products  were  tossed  into  the  fray. 

The  shift  to  1 6-bit  products  has 
come  rapidly,  but  the  leading  Europe- 
an companies  have  prepared  for  it. 


"Companies  like  Psygnosis,  Mirror- 
soft,  and  others  made  decisions  to  in- 
vest heavily  in  the  16-bit  market.  And 
it's  starting  to  pay  off  handsomely." 
Among  the  other  advantages  of  1 6-bit 
products  is  the  higher  price  point  the 
games  bear — El  5  or  so,  or  $25  and  up, 
in  line  with  .American  prices — and  a 
longer  shelf  life. 

Which  machines  are  leading  the 
16-bit  revolution?  "The  Atari  ST  ob- 
viously has  much  greater  potential  in 
Europe  than  in  the  States.  The  Amiga 
has  been  equally  successful.  On  the 
software  side,  Amiga  and  ST  software 
arc  of  great  importance  to  all  U.K. 
and  European  publishers."  The  past 
year.  Treasure  points  out,  has  seen  a 
surge  in  the  popularity  of  1 6-bit  MS- 
DOS  machines,  led  by  Amstrad. 

As  in  North  America,  the  transi- 
tion to  16-bit  machines  has  brought 
with  it  a  new,  more  sophisticated  type 
of  game.  "Arcades  were  by  far  the 
most  popular  8-bit  games,"  Treasure 
says.  "Sixteen-bit  is  a  lot  more  pure, 
as  far  as  game  design  goes.  Simula- 
tions, flight  simulations,  and  role- 
playing  games  are  all  finding  great 
success." 

The  new  machines  are  bringing 
in  a  new  audience  as  well,  "Historical- 


COMPUTE 


THE  COST  OF 

DEVELOPING  A 

MAJOR  PRODUCT 

TODAY  CANNOT 

BE  RECOUPED  IN  A 

SINGLE  COUNTRY 


ly,  the  8-bit  gaming  audience  was 
composed  of  boys  from  10  to  about 
16.  They  played  computer  games  until 
they  outgrew  them  and  moved  on  to 
other  interests.  We're  finding  a  more 
mature  audience  for  16-bit  games." 

One  thing  from  which  European 
developers  have  been  largely  spared  is 
the  Nintendo  boom,  which  has 
wreaked  more  than  a  little  havoc  on 
American  software  publishers.  "Es- 
sentially, volume  sales,  in  the  United 
Kingdom  at  least,  have  been  based  on 
8-bit  software  that  costs  from  S3  to 
$15.  At  that  price  point,  Nintendo 
can't  compete.  It's  led  them  to  hold 
back  from  this  market." 

Having  anticipated  the  16-bit 
market,  what  lies  ahead  for  European 
software  publishers?  Treasure  sees 
both  opportunity  and  risk.  .4s  com- 
puter entertainment  becomes  more 
widespread,  he  feels,  the  industry  will 
attract  the  attention  of  mainstream 
entertainment  producers.  This  trend 
will  be  hastened  by  the  arrival  of  new 
technologies  such  as  CD-ROM,  which 
will  permit  both  the  development  of 
even  more  complex  entertainments 
and  the  extension  of  the  entertain- 
ment-software audience  to  a  broader 
consumer  base. 

"Already  we're  seeing  major  de- 
velopers and  publishers  investing  in 
research  into  new  technologies,"  Trea- 
sure says.  "As  companies  like  Sony 
and  Philips  arrive  at  standards  for  the 
new  technologies,  you'll  see  a  real  ex- 
plosion of  growth  among  the  software 
developers  who  have  come  up  from 
the  8-bit  worid.  It's  the  beginning  of 
the  future,  really." 

That  future  will,  perhaps  inevita- 
bly, include  the  major  entertainment 
producers.  "1  think  you'll  see  compa- 
nies like  Time-Warner,  Columbia,  and 
others  investing  in  our  industry,  ac- 
quiring software  houses  the  way  they've 
acquired  movie  studios,  record  com- 
panies, and  book  publishers." 

Will  that  signal  the  end  of  the  in- 
dependent software  industry?  Not  at 
all.  "There  will  always  be  room  for 
people  who  are  faster  and  fleeter  of 
foot,"  Simon  Treasure  observes.        s 


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Word  for  Windows 

Microsoft  Word  for  Windows  is  a  full- 
featured  graphical  word  processor  de- 
signed for  the  Windows  graphical 
environment.  In  addition  to  all  of  the 
standard  features  of  character-based 
word  processors,  this  program  pro- 
vides compound  document  creation, 
customization,  and  translation  from 
other  word  processors. 

The  retail  price  of  Word  for  Win- 
dows is  $495.  For  the  first  90  days  thai 
the  program  is  available,  Microsoft 
will  offer  a  special  upgrade  price  of 
$1 50  for  current  users  of  any  version 
of  H^brrfforthePC. 


Word  for  Windows  features  a  WYSIWYG 
graphical  user  interface. 

Microsoft  Word  for  Windows  re- 
quires an  80286  or  an  80386  micro- 
processor; an  EGA,  a  VG.A,  or  a 
Hercules  graphics  card;  a  hard  drive; 
640KofR.AM:  Microsoft  Windows 
2.  II  or  higher:  and  MS-DOS  or  PC- 
DOS  3.0  or  higher.  A  mouse  is  recom- 
mended but  not  required.  Word  for 
Windows  will  ship  with  a  runtime  ver- 
sion oT  Microsoft  Windows  2. 1 1 . 
Microsoft,  !60l!'NE36t/}  Way,  Box 
97017.  Redmond,  H.-i  98073-9717 
Circle  Reader  Service  Number  200. 


Save  Our  School 

The  Learning  Company  has  released 

Super  Solvers  Midnight  Rescue!,  an 
action-adventure  for  the  IBM  PC  and 
compatibles  that's  designed  to  build 
deductive  reasoning  and  reading 
comprehension  skills  in  children  ages 
8  to  11. 

Children  must  read,  think,  and 


Super  Solvers  Midnight  Rescue!  com- 
bines arcade  action  and  education. 

react  in  time  to  save  Shady  Glen 
School  before  it  disappears.  Morly 
Maxwell,  alias  the  Master  of  Mischief, 
plots  to  paint  the  school  with  disap- 
pearing paint.  He  has  created  five  ro- 
bots to  assist  him  and  has  disguised 
himself  as  one  of  them  to  avoid  detec- 
tion. ,As  members  of  the  Super  Solvers 
Club,  children  must  search  the  school 
for  clues  and  uncover  Marty's  true 
identity,  but  they  only  have  until 
midnight. 

Super  Solvers  Midnight  Rescue! 
supports  EGA.  Tandy  16-color,  CG.A, 
and  Hercules  graphics  cards  and  re- 
quires 512K  of  memory  for  IBM  PCs 
and  640K  for  Tandy  PCs.  The  sug- 
gested retail  price  is  $49.95, 
The  Learning  Company,  649S  Kaiser  Dr., 
Frcmoni,  C.l  94555 
Circle  Reader  Service  Number  201. 


Relive  History 

Joan  of. -Ire:  Siege  &  the  Sword  from 
Br0derbund  combines  elements  of 
strategy  and  action  with  historical 
fact.  The  game  includes  Joan  of  Arc's 
battles  against  the  English  and  Bur- 
gundians  in  her  campaign  to  have 


Charles  VII  crowned  King  of  France. 

You  can't  change  history  though, 
as  Joan  is  eventually  captured  by  the 
British  and  burned  at  the  stake  in 
1432.  However,  the  game  continues 
until  1456,  as  Charles  VII  carries  on 
his  fight  to  drive  out  the  English  and 
unite  France. 

As  Charies,  you  can  choose  from 
20  options  on  any  given  turn  includ- 
ing raising  armies,  collecting  taxes, 
negotiating  for  towns,  ransoming  pris- 
oners, dispatching  spies,  and  dispens- 
ing royal  justice. 

You'll  visit  73  authentic  locales 
and  encounter  31  characters  who  have 
different  weaknesses  and  strengths. 
The  game  features  five  action  se- 
quences including  large-scale  battles 
in  open  countryside,  hand-to-hand 
struggles  with  individual  English  sol- 
diers, and  assaults  on  fortress  walls 
with  boulders  and  scalding  oil  raining 
down. 

Joan  of  .Arc  has  a  retail  price  of 
$44.95  and  is  available  for  the  IBM 
PC  and  compatibles,  Amiga,  and 
Atari  ST.  The  PC  version  supports 
Hercules  monochrome,  CGA,  EGA, 
and  Tandy  16-color  graphics. 
Brederbiind  Software,  J  7  Paul  Dr,  San  Ra- 
fael. C.-l  9490S-2WI 
Circle  Reader  Service  Number  202. 


In  Control 

SubLOGIC,  known  for  its  flight  simu- 
lators, has  gone  one  step  farther  to 
bring  realistic  flight  to  computer  pi- 
lots, night  Controls  I,  patterned  after 
a  real  aircraft  control  yoke,  provides 
the  tactile  feedback  essential  for  prop- 
er aircraft  control. 

The  yoke  allows  you  to  fly  stable 
and  smooth  with  one  hand.  Features 
include  a  full  T-handle  throttle  and 
accurate  gear  and  flap  switches.  Op- 
tional rudder  pedals  are  also  available. 

Flight  Controls  I  can  also  be  used 
in  conjunction  with  Flight  Simulator: 
Trainer  on  IBM  PCs  and  compatibles 
as  a  serious  training  simulator  for 
dedicated  computer  pilots.  FAA  ap- 
proval is  pending. 

The  suggested  retail  price  of 


130       C    O    M    P    U    T    E    I 


FEB[?UA(?Y       1990 


Flight  Controls  I  is  $179.95.  The  op- 
tional rudder  pedals  sell  for  $59.95. 
The  Right  Controls  I  system  is  com- 
patible with  all  SubDOGIC  flight- 
simulation  programs,  including  Micro- 
soft Flight  Simulator  version  3.0  and 
any  other  analog  joystick-compatible 
aircraft  flight  simulator. 
SubWGlC.  501  Kenyan  Rd.  Champaign. 
IL  61820 
Circle  Reader  Service  Number  203. 


New  Teammates 

Data  East  USA  and  Sony  Magnetic 
Products  have  teamed  up  to  bring  the 
computer  game  ABC's  Monday  Night 
Football  to  Sony  disk  buyers. 

For  a  limited  time,  a  demo  disk 
of  Data  East's  football  simulation  is 
being  included  in  Sony  10-pack  disk 
boxes.  Boot  up  the  demo  and  you'll 
get  a  feel  for  the  computer  gridiron  ac- 
tion while  viewing  several  action- 
packed  plays.  As  a  bonus,  you'll  also 
receive  the  Sony  SportsBook,  which 
offers  a  dozen  additional  plays  specifi- 
cally for  use  with  the  complete  ABC's 
Monday  Night  Football  game. 

ABC's  Monday  Night  Football  is 
available  for  the  IBM  PC  and  compat- 
ibles and  the  Commodore  64. 
Data  East  USA.  1850  Little  Orchard  St.. 
San  Jose.  CA  95 125 
Circle  Reader  Service  Number  204. 


Low-Price  24-Pin 

Panasonic  Communications  &  Sys- 
tems has  introduced  the  KX-PI624,  a 
wide-carriage,  24-pin,  dot-matrix 
printer  priced  at  less  than  $700. 


The  Panasonic  KX-P1624  offers  24-pin 
printing  at  a  low  price. 

The  KX-P1624  prints  draft  out- 
put at  1 92  characters  per  second  (cps) 
while  letter-quality  output  is  63  cps. 
You  can  choose  any  one  or  a  combina- 
tion of  the  resident  five  letter-quality 
fonts  or  two  draft  fonts.  Graphics  out- 
put up  to  360  X  360  dots  per  inch  is 
also  possible. 

Twenty  of  the  printer's  most 
commonly  used  functions  can  be  se- 
lected directly  from  the  operator  pan- 
el including  fonts,  pitch,  form  length, 


lines  per  inch,  micro  linefeed,  mar- 
gins, and  quiet  mode.  Three  macros 
are  also  available  for  frequently  used 
setups.  A  fourth  macro  resets  the 
printer  to  original  factory  settings. 

The  printer  ofTers  IBM  Pro- 
printer  XL-24E  and  Epson  LQ-2500 
emulations  and  contains  a  12K  buffer, 
expandable  to  44K  using  an  optional 
32K  RAM  card. 

The  Panasonic  KX-P1624  has  a 
retail  price  of  $699.95. 
Panasonic  Communications  &  Systems, 
Two  Panasonic  Way.  Secaucus.  NJ  07094 
Circle  Reader  Service  Number  205. 


New  Hyundai  386 

Hyundai  has  introduced  the  Super- 
386S,  its  latest  in  a  line  of  80386SX 
computers  that  provide  386  power  in 
a  system  priced  a  little  more  than  an 
AT  compatible. 

The  8-/16-megahertz-switchable 
computer  has  1MB  of  RAM  expand- 
able to  8MB.  It  features  64K  of  ROM, 
six  expansion  slots  (two  8-bit,  four  16- 
bit),  one  serial  port,  and  one  parallel 
port.  An  IDE  hard  disk  drive  inter- 
face, a  floppy  drive  controller,  and  a 
clock/calendar  are  built  in. 

The  basic  system  includes  a  S'A- 
inch,  1. 2MB  floppy  drive. 

The  retail  price  of  the  Super-386S 
is  $1,895. 

Hyundai  Electronics  America.  166  Bay- 
poinle  Phvy..  San  Jose.  CA  95134 
Circle  Reader  Service  Number  206. 


Designer  Bookkeeping 

Accounting  by  Design's  Bookkeeping 
by  Design  for  small  businesses  fea- 
tures lively  onscreen  graphics  and  a 
streamlined  program  structure.  The 
program  takes  advantage  of  Microsoft 
H-'/nd/oivj' graphical  interface  to  create 
a  layered  look  for  many  of  its  book- 
keeping screens.  Data-entry  processes 
and  command  sequences  have  been 
simplified. 

The  program  provides  small 
businesses  with  accounts  payable,  ac- 
counts receivable,  invoicing,  and  pay- 
roll systems,  as  well  as  a  general  ledger 
with  a  report  writer.  You  can  use  the 
program  to  review  sales  records,  write 
checks,  and  make  payroll  entries  with- 
out leaving  the  software  environment. 

The  interface  lets  you  have  re- 
ports up  to  130  characters  wide,  full- 
width  columns  of  figures,  and  movable 
help  windows.  You  can  also  print 
sideways  and  access  numerous  fonts. 
Like  many  other  Windows  applica- 
tions. Bookkeeping  by  Design  will  run 
in  the  background. 

Bookkeepirig  by  Design  requires 
640K,  a  hard  disk,  a  graphics  card, 


and  a  mouse.  It  comes  bundled  with  a 
runtime  version  of  Microsoft  Win- 
dows and  retails  for  S695. 
A  ccaunting  by  Design.  2140  Shattuck  Aye., 
Suite  501.  Berkeley,  CA  94704 
Circle  Reader  Service  Number  207. 


Toshiba  386  Portable 

Toshiba  America  has  released  the 
T3100SX,  its  first  battery-powered 
portable  386SX  computer.  Equipped 
with  an  Intel  80386SX  microproces- 
sor, the  unit  runs  at  1 6  megahertz  and 
is  powered  by  two  internal  removable 
and  rechargeable  batteries  that  last  up 
to  three  hours.  It  also  runs  on  AC 
power. 


The  T3100SX  is  Toshiba's  first  battery- 
operated  386SX  portable. 

Weighing  in  at  14.9  pounds,  the 
T3100SX  offers  VGA  screen  resolu- 
tion using  an  advanced,  high-contrast, 
low-power  gas-plasma  display.  The 
unit  also  supports  simultaneous  inter- 
nal and  external  monitors. 

The  system  comes  equipped  with 
1MB  of  RAM  and  is  expandable  to 
7MB  using  2MB  memory  modules  or 
to  13MB  using  4MB  memory  mod- 
ules. It  also  features  a  40MB  hard  disk 
drive  with  a  25-millisecond  access 
time  and  a  1.44MB,  3'/2-inch  disk 
drive. 

It's  equipped  with  five  Toshiba 
slots  including  a  dedicated  modem 
slot. 

The  T3 1 OOSX  retails  for  $5,999. 
Toshiba  America  Information  Systems, 
Computer  Systems  Division,  9740 1  mine 
Blvd..  Irvine.  CA  92718 
Circle  Reader  Service  Number  20B. 


Computer  Toys 

Fisher-Price  has  joined  forces  with 
software  publisher  GameTek  to  pro- 
duce six  educational  computer  games 
for  children  ages  3-8.  Each  game  is 
based  on  a  popular  Fisher-Price  toy. 
My  Grand  Piano,  a  music  pro- 


FEBfiUAI?Y       1990 


COMPUTE!       131 


p 

H 

^ 

i^^^ 

GameTek  has  teamed  up  with  Fisher- 
Price  to  produce  educational  software. 

gram,  teaches  basic  piano  theory  and 
musical  notes  while  entertaining  chil- 
dren with  30  songs  such  as  "Marj' 
Had  a  Little  Lamb"  and  "London 
Bridge."  In  Bowling  Alky,  children 
learn  basic  math,  coordination,  and 
spatial  relationships  in  a  bowling 
game  featuring  curve  balls,  computer 
scoring,  and  sound  effects.  The  role- 
playing  game.  School  Bus  Driver, 
teaches  navigation  and  memory  skills 
as  children  pick  up  Fisher-Price  Little 
People  at  bus  stops  and  drive  them  to 
school.  Children  can  develop  number- 
recognition  and  visual-recall  skills 
with  /  Can  Remember.  In  l-'irchouse 
Rescue,  children  assume  the  role  of 
firefighter,  driving  a  fire  truck  and  res- 
cuing Little  People  and  their  cat  while 
learning  coordination  and  decision- 


making skills.  Children  can  develop 
skills  in  picture  and  shape  recognition 
with  Perfeci  Fit.  This  match-and-fit 
game  features  sound  effects  and  puz- 
zles involving  Fisher-Price  toys  and 
has  three  levels  of  difficulty. 

Fisher-Price  computer  games  by 
GameTek  are  available  for  the  IBM 
PC  and  compatibles.  Commodore 
64/128.  and  .A.pple  II.  A  color  monitor 
is  recommended.  Each  game  retails 
for  Si 4.95. 

auiiwTck.  2999  SE  I9l.st  Si..  StiiU'SOO,  N. 
-Miami  Beach.  FL  33 180 
Circle  Reader  Service  Number  209. 


Foreign  Affairs 

Two  language-teaching  software  pro- 
grams from  International  Software 
can  perform  direct  translations  from 
English  into  either  German  or  Span- 
ish. With  Learn  German  and  Learn 
Spanish,  you  can  type  in  a  simple  sen- 
tence on  your  IBM  PC  or  compatible 
and  the  program  will  act  as  interpreter 
and  display  or  print  the  translation. 
The  programs  employ  artificial- 
intelligence  parsing  to  ensure  that 
grammar,  gender,  conjugation,  and 
composition  of  words  within  the 
translated  sentences  arc  correct.  .After 
examining  the  translation,  you  can 
save  each  sentence  in  an  ASCII  file. 


The  accumulated  text  can  then  be 
edited  with  any  word  processor. 

Both  Learn  German  and  Learn 
Spanish  contain  a  large  resident  vo- 
cabulary- and  a  dictionary;  separate 
displays  for  numbers,  verb  conjuga- 
tion, and  noun  declension;  and  word 
exercises  that  test  your  knowledge  of 
the  language.  Each  program  retails  for 
S99.95. 

International Soflnare.  1954  .\'oli  Hill.  Bo.x 
747.  Running  Springs.  C.4  923S2 
Circle  Reader  Service  Number  210. 


Use  the  handy 
Reader  Service  Card 

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G     O     O     K      I      N 


Gone  are  the  days  of  the 
hobbyist,  the  hacker,  the 
guru,  the  nerd.  Before  us 
He  the  nineties,  a  new  de- 
cade of  issues,  buzzwords, 
and  computer  happen- 
ings. What  sounds  odd 
today  will  be  old  stufTin  a 
few  years.  When  the 
twenty-first  century 
dawns,  we'll  look  back  on 
the  nineties  with  wonder  and  tell  tales 
of  that  decade's  glamour  biz.  We'll 
remember; 

Exciting  philosophical  issues,  like 
how  Commodore/Atari  zealots  gained 
legal  status  as  a  religious  cult  and, 
therefore,  were  protected  by  law  from 
DOS/Mac/NeXT  deprogramming 
methods  known  as  real  world  training. 
Or  when  eyeglass  monitors  came 
equipped  with  an  LED  so  that  the 
boss  could  tell  whether  subordinates 
were  working  or  sleeping. 

AiXii.  how  the  trend  toward  porta- 
bilitj-  died  when  .Ashton-Tate  put  a 
Handy  Tote  handle  on  its  47-pound 
dBase  VI 11  package  and  Egghead  in- 
stalled customer  forklifts. 

Not  to  mention  how  the  personal 
computer  craze  nearly  crashed  when  a 
philosophical  tome  written  by  the 
most  advanced  computer  neural  net- 
work system  of  1999  was  published 
under  the  title  The  Ultimate  Peripher- 
al: Your  Head. 

And  don't  forget  the  ground- 
breaking legal  issues,  like  the  major 
defect  in  hard  drive  auto-spring-loaded- 
eject  systems  (standard  in  most  1998 
PCs)  that  brought  a  rash  of  suits  from 
users  suffering  severe  chest  bruises. 

Or  the  Columbian  government's 
suit  against  the  manufacturer  of  the 
coffeeproof  keyboard. 

And  the  suit  brought  by  Denny's 
against  Apple  Computer  for  borrow- 
ing its  menu-wiih-piclures  metaphor. 

Or  the  Apple  suit  against  the 
state  of  Washington  for  unrestricted 
use  of  its  own  state  fruit. 

And,  last  but  not  least,  the  Su- 
preme Court's  landmark  decision  that 
IBM  owns  the  English  alphabet  but 
Lotus  retains  the  rights  to  all  the  spell- 


ing m  perpetuity. 

We'll  look  back  on  the  common 
complaints  from  the  year  1996:  "I  just 

can't  live  with  this  256-charactcr- 
filcname  limit!" 

"This  Portable  Mac  Ilxvcr 
must  have  been  designed  by  a  weight- 
lifter!  At  two  pounds,  it's  killing  my 
kneecaps!" 

"Eiglity  bucks  for  a  gigabyte  of 
RAM!  These  people  must  think  I'm 
crazy  to  ask  that!" 

"This  word  processing  software  is 
a  joke!  Not  only  does  it  lack  its  own 
UNIX-like  programming  language,  it 
doesn't  even  have  a  hard  disk  unfor- 
matting  feature." 


"It  just  goes  to  show  you:  1  spent 
six  years  learning  the  C  language  and 
they  come  out  with  D." 

"This  program  requires  six  megs 
just  to  load!  I  remember  when  you 
could  write  a  decent  program  in  only 
1,5  megs  of  RAM." 

"1  need  a  new  graphics  board. 
This  SPQRVGA  card  only  has  a  5  X 
5  meg  pixel  grid  and  a  paltry  4  trillion 


colors.  It  doesn't  even  do  holography." 

"This  software  would  be  easier  to 
use  if  it  didn't  rely  so  much  on  the 
Alt-Shift-F91  key  combination." 

"We  need  to  find  a  better  way  to 
interface  humans  and  computers. 
This  stupid  bioconnector  keeps  slip- 
ping out  of  my  ear.'' 

"It  just  goes  to  show  you:  I  spent 
four  years  learning  the  D  language  and 
they  come  out  with  E." 

"The  batteries  in  this  laptop  are 
useless!  How  can  I  get  any  work  done 
on  the  moon  shuttle  with  only  29 
hours  of  power?" 

"It  just  goes  to  show  you:  I  spent 
six  months  learning  the  E  language 
and  they  come  out  with  F." 

We'll  hear  the  echoes  of  the  buzz- 
words and  phrases  from  around  the 
house  in  the  year  1998.  "Look,  dear!  I 
found  your  laptop  here  behind  the 
sofa  cushion." 

"Honey,  did  you  see  the  keys  to 
my  i986?" 

"Mom!  The  toaster  won't  boot." 

"I  didn't  buy  a  $9,000  HDTV  for 
you  to  hook  up  your  Tandy  Color 
Computer  8  to  it." 

"Billy's  been  using  the  laser  print- 
er all  morning — tell  him  to  get  off." 

"Honey,  I  can't  find  the  Honda's 
boot  disk." 

Hardly  a  day  will  pass  when  we 
don't  look  back  on  all  the  other  hap- 
penings that  made  the  nineties  so  ex- 
citing. Like  in  1991,  when  PC 
computers  stopped  snorting  and  beep- 
ing and  began  to  warble  and  yawn 
instead. 

.And  the  computer-store  headache 
pill,  perfected  in  1 992,  became  avail- 
able in  three  strengths:  beta,  1.0,  and 
mail  order. 

And  how  bright,  snappily- 
dressed,  attractive  women  finally  con- 
stituted, in  1997,  a  majority  in  the 
personal  computer  world. 

Or  when  the  last  WordStar  hold- 
out converted  to  WordPerfect  in  1 998 
but  continued  to  lament  the  loss  of  his 
beloved  cursor-key  diamond. 

.And  who  can  forget  when  the 
"real  world"  was  discovered  in  1999, 
but  wanted  nothing  to  do  with  us?     0 


FEBRUARY       1990 


COMPUTE! 


135 


HOTWARE 


SOFTWARE  BESTSELLERS  FROM  AROUND  THE  COUNTRY 


HOME  PRODUCTIVITY 

1.  Quicken 

Manage  your  finances. 

Intuit 

IBM,  Macintosh 

2.  The  Print  Shop 

Make  banners  and  more. 

Broderbund 

Apple  II,  Apple  )te.  Commodore  64/128,  IBM, 

Macintosh 

3.  PC  USA 

Explore  the  United  States. 

PC  Globe 

ISM 

4.  BannerMania 

Print  banners,  piennants,  and  more. 

Broderbund 

IBM 

5.  Managing  Your  Money 

.•^locate  vour  income. 

MECA 

Apple  II,  IBM,  Macintosh 

6.  Cafendar  Creator  Plus 

Create  many  difTcrcnt  calendars. 
Power  Lip 
IBM,  Macintosh 

7.  WillMalcer 

Get  help  in  writing  a  will. 

Nolo  Press 

Apple  II,  IBM,  Macintosh 

8.  Print  Shop  Graphics 
Library 

.4dd  variety  to  your  Print  Shop 

creations. 

Broderbund 

Apple  II,  Apple  IIgs,  Commodore  64/128.  IBM 

9.  PC  Globe  3.0 

Explore  world  demographics, 

PC  Globe 
IBM 

10.  Adobe  Type  Manager 

Better  fonts  for  your  Mac. 

Adobe 

Macintosti 


HOME  ENTERTAINMENT 

1.  Flight  Simulator 

Head  for  the  wild  blue  yonder 

Microsoft 

IBM,  Macintosh 

2.  SimCity 

Run  the  worid's  first  simulated  city. 

Maxis 

Amiga,  Commodore  &4/128,  IBM,  Macintosh 

3.  Their  Finest  Hour:  The 
Battle  of  Britain 

Turn  the  tide  in  the  WWII  air  war, 

Lucasfilm  Games 
IBM 

4.  M1  Tank  Platoon 

Thrilling  tank  action. 

MicroProse 

IBM 

5.  John  Madden  Football 

Take  to  the  field  with  the  pros. 

Electronic  Arts 

Apple  II.  Commodore  64/128,  IBM 

6.  Tetris 

Deceptively  addicting  falling-block 

game. 

Spectrum  HoloByte 

Amiga,  Apple  lies.  Commodore  64/128, 

Macintosh 

7.  Mean  Streets 

Become  a  digitized  detective. 

Access 

Commodore  64/128.  IBM 

8.  Hero's  Quest 

Your  chance  to  become  a  hero. 

Sierra 

IBM 

9.  The  Duel:  Test  Drive  II 

Fast-paced  car  racing. 

Amiga,  Apple  Has,  Commodore  64/128,  IBM. 
Macintosh 

10.  Battlechess 

Animated  action  on  the  chessboard. 

Mediagenic 

Amiga,  Apple  lies.  Commodore  64/128,  IBM 


HOME  LEARNING 

1.  Where  in  Time  Is 
Carmen  Sandiego? 

Can  you  find  Carmen  in  time? 

Brederbund 

IBM 

2.  Math  Blaster  Plus! 

Teaches  basic  math  concepts. 
Davidson  &  Associates 
Apple  II.  Apple  lies,  IBM 

3.  Where  in  the  World  Is 
Carmen  Sandiego? 

Chase  Carmen  around  the  world. 

Broderbund 

Amiga.  Apple  II,  Commodore  64/128.  IBM, 

Macintosh 

4.  Where  in  the  USA  Is 
Carmen  Sandiego? 

The  chase  moves  to  the  USA. 

Broderbund 

Amipa.  Apple  II,  Commodore  64/128.  IBM, 

Maantosh 

5.  The  Children's  Writing  & 
Publishing  Center 

A  desktop  publisher  for  kids. 

The  Learning  Company 
Apple  II,  Apple  IIgs,  IBM 

6.  Reader  Rabbit 

Helps  children  learn  to  read. 

The  Learning  Company 

Apple  II,  Commodore  64/128.  IBM,  Macintosh 

7.  Mavis  Beacon  Teaches 
Typing 

Learn  to  touch-type. 

Eledrcnic  Arts 

Apple  II.  Apple  lies. 

Commodore  64/128,  IBM,  Macintosh 

8.  Learning  DOS 

Learn  the  ins  and  outs  of  DOS. 

Microsoft 

IBM 

9.  Think  Quick 

Children  learn  problem  solving. 
The  Learning  Company 
Apple  II,  Apple  IIgs,  IBM 

10.  Math  Rabbit 

Build  eariy  math  skills. 

The  Learning  Company 

Apple  II,  Commoilore  64/128,  IBM,  Macintosh 


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l.l.lM<.ll,l.l,i.l....ll„.l,l.l,.I.J.I.i.,l,l,IJ 


The  Ad  Lib  Music  Caid: 
Open  your  ears  and  blow  your  mind. 


i 


^^^^^^K  Asteroids  are  hurtling  by.  Enemy  photons  are  de- 
■^^^^Hb  stroying  the  rear  deflectors.  Engines  strain  as  they 
^^^^^^H  reach  critical  mass.  Suddenly  you  hit  the  retros,  loop 
^^^HHB\  around,  and  fire  with  everything  you've  got. 
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tears  to  the  eyes  of  your  loved  ones. 

In  fact,  the  Ad  Lib  sound  is  so  hot,  major  ganne  developers  are 
now  designing  dozens  of  new  adventures  with  special  soundtracks 
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Ad  Lib  Inc.,  50  Stanifard  Street,  Suite  800,  Boston,  MA  02114. 1-800-463-2686  in  U.S.  or  Canada.  1-418-523-3676  Intarnational.  Fax;  1-41S'S29'f159. 


Compatible 
Games. 

Here  are  just  some  of  the 
hottest  new  computer  games 
desigried  for  use  with  the 
Ad  Lib  Music  Card: 


T^Tr^f^^Tt  \ 


Lucashim's  Their  Fiafrst  Hour: 
Battle  d1  Biitain 


MicfoPrpses 
F-15SU(ke£»g(e[i 


Tail  OS  Arkanoid  It 
Rpvenge  d(  DOH 


AclivisJan's 
GlwstbDsters  J I 


Ucasfrlm's  Indiai 
and  the  L^st  C 


System  reqirirements:  IBM  PC,  XT,  AT,  or  compatible  with  25BK  RAM,  DCS  2.0  or  higher.  CGA,  EGA.  or  monachrome  graphics  adaplor,  and  headset  or  external  ^jeafcer. 

©  1989  Ad  Lib.  Ad  Lib  is  a  registered  trademark  of  Ad  Lib  Inc.  IBM  is  a  registered  trademark  ot  Inter naiionaE  Business  Machines  CD:pDratian. 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  190 


The  Best  New  Game  in  2  Years! 


SIERRA  fAKES  A 
NOT-SO-SERIOUS  STAB 
FANTASY  ROLE-PUYING 


SIERRA  PRE:SKNTS: 

THE  ROLE-PLAYING  ADVENTURE 

ftcr  years  of  leading  the  field 

A       in  3-D  Animated  Advemiirc 
Cuimes,  players  ;md  critics 
'■        alike  arc  telling  us  wc 
have  taken  the  lead  in 
vet  another  same 


|K 


W 


genre  --  Fantasy 
Rale  Playing.  In 
Hero's  Ques(, 
ERP  means  Fun 
Role  Playing. 


-«*==■ 


THIS  IS  FRP  SIERRA  STYLE... 

A.s  a  recent  graduate  of  the  Famous 
Adventurers'  Correspondence  School 

for  Heroes,  you're  more  than  qualified  to 
battle  brigands,  massacre  mon.sters  and 
rescue  royally.  If  you're  eager  to  exercise 
your  new  credentials,  you've  come  to  the 
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dire  need  of  a  champion,  and  you  just 
niightfiiihebill! 

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for  every  grueling  battle,  for  every  hour 
of  work,  for  everj'  day  of  adventuring  you 
can  only  get  stronger,  swifter  and  more 
skillful  --  not  to  mention  rich!  Soon  even 
the  most  powerful  monsters  will  be  no 


THREE  GAMES  IN  ONE! 

Play  the  game  as  your  Hero-of-Choice. 
Will  you  become  the  Fighter?  The  Magic 
User?  The  Wily  Thief?  \n  Hero's  Quest 
the  choice  is  yours.. .and  Hero's  Que.st  can 
be  played  over  and  over  again  using 
different  skills  and  different  solutions  to 
game  puzzles. 


Choose  from  three  Hero  types:  Fearless 
Fighter,  Inscrutable  Magic  User  or  Wily  Thief. 


Even  the  most  intrepid  Hero  knoMS  when  lit 
ignore  a  'Do  Not  Feed  the  A  nimals '  sign. 

match  for  you.  When  you've  purged  the 
land  of  evil,  choose  a  new  role  and  play 
the  game  again! 

But  remember  Adventuring  Rule  #! : 
When  in  doubt,  run  away!  So  you  wa'.''  to 
be  a  hero?  Well,  here's  your  chance  -- 
Hero's  Quest  I -So  You  Want  To  Be  A 
//era.. .FRP  has  never  been 
this  much  fun! 


V 


Hero's  Quest  players  Icll  us  how  ii  is... 


'JusI  gut  HQ  yesterday  and  am  very 
pleased. ..mme  of  the  humor  is  priceless, 

'...this  one  has  more  humor  than  most 
CRPG's  I've  played!' 

'The  fairies  Hcrf  a  riot!  Great 

characienzations  in  this  Rome,  better  even 

than  Space  Quest  ill,  and  that's  going  some. ' 

'.„much  of  the  humor  is  a  great  deal  more 

subtle. ..the  sub  thing  brought  me  right  out  of 

my  chair, ' 

7  like  that  ending  a  lot!!!  I  want  to  go  back 
and  repla\„.S00i\! 

'...one  of  the  best  of  all  of  Sierra  Games„,I 

play  the  game  every  chance  I  gel,  I  highly 

recommend  it  to  anyone  who  likes  games  by 

Sierra, ' 

'yVe  can  V  wait  to  play  IIQ  II!!  Sierra  is 

getting  too  good  at  this  stuff.  It's  getting  to  the 

darn  point  vhere  no  other  computer  games 

are  worth  btiving.  Keep  it  up„.Jusl  make 

ifORE  games,' 


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or  call  your  local  Software  Dealer 


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St*  dK*n>  b4  wIhIRI  Sinra  paM$«rtt 


^  SIERRA^ 


Clfcle  Header  Service  Number  145 


SIERRA  ON-UNE.  INC.  ■  CQARSEGC'.D.